Revelations
by MySoapBox
Summary: When their young adult son is recruited for the CIA, Chuck and Sarah decide that it's time to tell him about their past. If he knew the sacrifices they had made to be together, would it make him change his mind about joining the agency? Chuck/Sarah
1. We Need to Talk

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Authors Note: All first and second season episodes are considered in this timeline through Chuck vs the Dream Job. AU after. **

**Chapter 1: We Need to Talk**

* * *

It was 10:00 in the morning when Chuck and Sarah pulled their car into a parking spot at the Palo Alto apartments.

"I'll get him, you can wait here," she told him. This was her idea and she wanted to take this first step alone. She tried not to let the tension show in her face, though she was sure, after all these years, she couldn't fool her husband.

"Oh I see, the old 'wait in the car' line," Chuck joked.

He was trying to lighten the mood, Sarah realized. She appreciated his effort and rewarded him by ruffling his short, graying hair. "I'll be right back."

Sarah was glad that she had opted for slacks and flats as she took the two flights of stairs up to the third floor. Counting the blue doors as she passed, she stopped at 307. She paused just a moment to steel herself and then raised her hand to knock.

A disheveled young man wearing a traditional cardinal Stanford sweatshirt answered the door. He smiled when he saw her. "Can I help you?"

"Is Charlie here?" she asked.

"Sure, he just woke up, come on in." The young man stepped back from the door granting her entrance into a sparsely furnished living room. He moved some newspapers from the sofa so that she could sit. "I'll go get him."

Sarah looked around. _Typical college decorating,_ she thought. One very old Dune poster on one wall looked familiar. A large TV hung on the other wall. The coffee table was littered with various controllers of every kind. In one corner stood a large trophy; Sarah recognized it at the one Charlie had won at the California State Kung Fu tournament. Now it looked as if it served as a coat rack for his EMT uniform.

Over the faint music in the next room Sarah overheard a muffled conversation.

"Charlie, dude, there is a woman out there asking for you. You've been holding out on me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," was the response.

"You didn't tell me you were into older women."

"Who's here?"

"I don't know, I didn't get her name, I just assumed…"

"Are you hung-over?"

Sarah heard the click of the bedroom door opening. She stood and turned, anxious to see his face. She was not disappointed. When he saw her his eyes lit up and he smiled. It was the same smile that had been melting her heart for the past twenty years.

"Mom?"

He was tall like his father, with the same lanky build, the same goofy smile. His hair had a little of his wave but her blond coloring. And he had her eyes, blue grey like a stormy sea. Just the sight of him, the man that he had become, took her breath away.

In two large steps he reached her. Taking her into his arms, they embraced, mother and son.

Sarah heard a voice from the bedroom doorway. "I knew you had something going on."

Charlie stepped back and turned to his friend. "Brian, this is my mother, Sarah Bartowski," he said, emphasizing the word "mother." "Mom, this is my roommate Brian."

"Good to meet you," Sarah said and graciously offered her hand.

"Um…nice to meet you too, Mrs. Bartowski," the roommate said, taking her hand awkwardly. "I'm just going to go now and let you guys catch up." And he retreated back to the bedroom.

"So Mom, what are you doing in town?" Charlie gestured to the couch and, after moving a pizza box aside, took the seat next to hers.

"I can't stay long, you father is waiting out in the car."

"Dad's here too?"

"I'm sorry for us just dropping in on you like this, but there are some things we wanted to talk to you about."

"That's nice Mom, but you guys didn't need to drive all this way. You could have just called."

"Yes, but the things we need to say are best said in person."

Charlie looked concerned. "Is something wrong? Are you and dad all right? Is it dad's blood pressure again?"

"We're fine. It's nothing like that. Can we buy you a cup of coffee and we'll talk about it?"

Charlie straightened up and put his hands on his knees. "Sure, Mom, I just found out that I don't have to go into work until tonight, so give me five minutes to shower and get dressed and then we can get going."

"Sure, just come down to the car when you're ready."

Sarah walked back down the stairs and joined Chuck in the car.

"Is he coming?" Chuck asked.

"Yes, he's coming; he'll be down in a few."

"It's good he had the morning free. No work or anything."

"Yeah, well…I might have had a little something to do with that."

"I thought you might."

Sarah and Chuck lapsed into a comfortable silence. Chuck started absentmindedly tapping on the steering wheel, and Sarah nudged him. Chuck had changed a lot since she had first met him at the Buy More almost 25 years ago. He was still funny, but there was a serious side to him now as well. She would need both sides of Chuck today, if she was going to get through this.

All this waiting was making Sarah nervous. She had never been one to have heart-to-heart talks with her son. That had always been Chuck's job. It was easy to pawn off all the serious parent talks to Chuck because Charlie was a boy and needed a father for those sorts of conversations. Sarah was the motivating parent. She was the one that drove Charlie to football practice. She was the one told him to put down the video games and do his homework. She was the best Kung Fu sparring partner a boy could wish for. They were close. They just weren't close in the open-up-your-feelings-and-speak-from-your-heart kind of close. That made what she had come to say all the more unsettling for Sarah.

Soon Charlie came bounding down the stairs in jeans and t-shirt. He opened the back door and slapped Chuck on the back. "Great to see you, Dad," he said enthusiastically.

After a side trip to the local Starbucks drive through, Chuck pulled into the parking lot of Rinconda Park. They found a corner of the park that was relatively private from the busy soccer fields and picnic benches. A handful of trees shaded their area and they found a convenient park bench there. Chuck and Sarah sat on the bench but Charlie opted for sitting under a tree, leaning his back against the trunk, facing them.

Not sure where to began, Sarah swirled the hot liquid in her plastic cup. Charlie took a sip of his and then held it between his hands.

"So…" he began, "What's this all about?"

Sarah looked at Chuck, raised her eyebrows and tilted her head toward Charlie.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I'll start," Chuck said. He took a deep breath and looked down at his son. "Charlie, your mom and I want to talk to you about something."

Charlie looked up. "Is this about me deciding not to go to med school?"

"Well yes, in a way. That's what tipped us off. And then your mom asked me to do some asking around," Chuck said.

"Asking around? Asking around about what?" Charlie asked.

Sarah spoke up. "I wanted to confirm my worst fears. To know if you were being…recruited."

He glanced around nervously for a second with his coffee cup paused at his lips. "I'm not sure what you're taking about."

"It's okay. We know you can't talk about it. We wouldn't expect you to," Sarah said.

"We know that you would never betray a trust," Chuck added.

"Mom, Dad…" he seemed not to know what more to say, so he let the word float in the air and he looked out over the grassy park.

"Before you decide, there are some things we think you should know," Chuck said.

Sarah nodded in agreement "You need to have all the information before you make a final decision. You haven't committed to them yet, have you?"

Charlie looked down and shook his head in the negative.

"So... you need to know everything." Chuck took Sarah's hand in his and smiled at her.

Charlie looked up. "Everything about what?"

"Everything about me and your father. Things about yourself." Sarah said.

"Things we've kept from you," Chuck finished.

Charlie finished the last sip of his coffee and sat it on the ground next to him. He shifted his weight and made himself more comfortable. "I'm listening."

Chuck pulled his hand out of Sarah's and leaned forward towards Charlie. "If you're being recruited, then you'll understand why everything we talk about needs to be kept between us. "

Charlie nodded.

"More importantly, if you're being recruited then you're old enough to understand why your father and I…" Sarah glanced over to Chuck and he smiled encouragingly, "especially me, have done the things we've done. And once you know the truth, I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me." Sarah took a deep breath and looked up through the branches towards the blue sky. This was going to be harder then she thought.

Charlie leaned forward. "I don't know what I would need to forgive you for. You've been the best mom a guy could have."

"And you've been more then I ever deserved," she wrapped both her hands around her cup, still mostly full, pulling comfort from its warmth, "but you can't say that until you know the whole truth."

"Mom," Charlie reached out with his foot and bumped Sarah's foot affectionately. "There's nothing you could tell me that would change the way I feel about you, I hope you know that."

Chuck smiled over at Sarah "I said that exact same thing to her once, and I don't think she believed me then, either."

"I believe you now, and that's what matters." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Charlie turned away. With renewed determination Sarah decided she better just start from the beginning. "Did you know that I worked for the government before I met your father?"

Charlie thought for a moment. "I remember something like that. Dad, didn't you say that you met mom at work?"

"Yes, but when I met your mom, I wasn't with the agency, she was," Chuck supplied.

"What were you?" Charlie asked Sarah, "An analyst like Dad?"

"No, Charlie, I was an agent," Sarah nervously confessed.

"An agent, what sort of agent?"

"I was a field agent for the CIA." Sarah watched him to gauge his reaction. She could see his eyebrows furrowed, like he was trying to piece it together.

"So let me get this straight. Before you even met Dad, you were like a spy or something?"

"She was the best looking kick-butt spy you ever saw," Chuck said with a smirk.

Sarah elbowed him. "Nothing as glamorous as that. Mostly it was dirty, lonely, work."

"So, did you have hidden guns and throwing knives and all that?" Charlie asked excitedly.

Sarah wondered if he even believed her. "Charlie, I'll try to answer all your questions. But there's a lot I can't tell you, even now. But don't think I was some spy like you see on TV."

"But she was awesome," Chuck added. "She maybe didn't think so, but everybody said she was the best agent the CIA ever had."

Charlie laughed out loud. "I'm sorry guys, but have you been smoking something?"

"No really," Sarah protested as she turned to Chuck for support.

"It's true, Charlie." Chuck said. "Think about it. Who taught you your first five years of Kung Fu?"

"Well, mom," Charlie answered.

"And who's taken you shooting since you were twelve?"

"Mom again," Charlie said.

"And who's gotten over 30 traffic citations but never been in one accident?" Sarah glared at Chuck. He quickly added, "Maybe that last one wasn't such a good example."

Charlie looked bewildered. "I mean, I always knew my mom was different from other moms. I just thought she liked to be very fit, and very…Republican."

Sarah rolled her eyes and reached down for her purse. "I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this," she said rummaging around in the bag. Finally she pulled out a battered leather ID wallet and handed it to Charlie.

He opened it up, his eyes got large. "CIA, I, I don't believe it." He whistled. "Wow Mom, you…you looked…nice!"

"Just nice?" Chuck asked. Sarah rewarded him with a punch in the arm.

"Do you believe us now?" Sarah asked.

Charlie kept staring at the ID. "Yeah…it's just…a lot to wrap your mind around, ya know?" He touched Sarah's picture with his finger. "This is so cool."

Sarah shook her head disapprovingly. "I don't want you to think that what I did was cool or fun. You need to know the whole story first. And then you'll understand how the CIA nearly ruined my life and your father's."

Charlie leaned back against the tree, obviously taken aback from the seriousness of his mother's response. He handed the wallet back to Sarah and held open his arms to show that he was ready to hear whatever she had to tell him.

Sarah sighed and turned to Chuck. "We better start with why I was assigned to you."

Chuck turned to Charlie. "Your mom's job was to protect me. I can't go into all the details, but let's just say that I accidently learned a lot of classified information, the type of information that many groups would kill me to get."

Sarah chimed in, "I liked your father right away and it quickly became clear how he felt about me. But we couldn't be together. I had a job to do, and romantic feelings would just get in the way of that job."

"So your mom tried to put her feelings aside,… and I tried my best to bring them to the surface," Chuck said smugly.

Sarah hummed her agreement. "It was always a balancing act, but we worked pretty well together. Your father adapted to being a spy better then I expected."

Charlie shook his head in disbelief.

"This is going to take longer than I thought. Maybe we should jump right to where we had to leave. You know more about what happened then I do, Sarah, so why don't you tell this part?" Chuck said.

"Ok," Sarah agreed. "Like I said, your dad and I were working together for the CIA. But I had another partner. He worked for another agency. It's hard to describe him…he…"

"He was not pretty," Chuck supplied.

Sarah ignored him. "He was a good agent, experienced and loyal. One night he pulled me aside after a mission and asked if Chuck and I ever thought about going on a vacation. I didn't have any idea what he was talking about and I told him so. Then he looked at me with real intensity, like he was trying to say something with his eyes, ya know. And he told me that your father and I should go somewhere where no one would find us, not even him." She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "I thought about that conversation half the night until I finally understood what he was trying to say. It was his round about way of letting me know that there was a termination order out on your dad."

"Terminate - as in kill?" Charlie suddenly stood. "The CIA wanted to kill Dad?"

Chuck raised his hand to try to calm Charlie down. "They didn't need me anymore." Chuck explained. "The CIA got a new computer and the stuff I knew became useless."

"That's no reason to kill someone," Charlie protested.

"I totally agree, Charlie. Boy, do I agree." Chuck said, "Just sit down and hear your mom out on this, we're only at the beginning of the story."

When Charlie sat down again, Sarah continued, "Charlie, what you need to understand is that those two years with your dad had made me see what I had missed out on. You've met Grandpa Jack, so you must have a pretty good idea of what it was like for me growing up with him." Charlie nodded. "And then I went into the CIA right out of high school. Life with your father made me see how much more there could be to living. He made me part of his family. Aunt Ellie and Uncle Devon too, they just accepted me, flaws and all. I can't begin to tell you how much that meant.

"So when I figured out about the termination order, I was torn. I had to ask myself, what did I love more, my life with the CIA, or my life with your father?"

Sarah stopped again to organize her thoughts. Across the field she saw a father and daughter playing soccer. The little girl was trying to kick the ball through the father's outspread legs. Sarah smiled to herself and then turned back to look at Charlie. "It didn't take long for me to make my decision."

"I can remember that night that your mom came for me like it was yesterday." Chuck said. "In many ways it was the end of one life and the beginning of another one. Let me tell you what I remember."

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A tapping sound woke Chuck from his sleep. He focused his eyes on the alarm clock. It was two in the morning. "Go away." he mumbled. But the tapping sounded again, and again. "Ok, ok, just a minute," he moaned and rolled out of bed. After pulling on some pajama pants he went to the window. There, through the glass, he saw his handlers face looking back at him.

"Sarah!? What are you doing here in middle of the night?" he asked, lifting the latch on the window.

"Shh. Keep your voice down," she said. Even in the fog of his brain, he realized that it wasn't an answer. He noticed that she was dressed all in black. She looked great in black.

He suddenly felt under dressed. "What? Do we have another mission? So soon?" He opened one of his drawers and pulled on a t-shirt as he spoke.

He felt her grab him by the shoulders and spin him to face her. "Chuck, listen to me very carefully. We have to get out of here. This is life or death. Do you understand?"

"What?" Chuck said confused, "Has someone gotten loose? Someone from that CIA prison? Who is it? Fulcrum? La Ciudad? Or that pita delivery girl, what's her name again?"

Sarah has gone to his closet; she pulled out a duffle bag. "Chuck!" Sarah warned. She started packing Chuck's jeans into the bag. "It's much worse than that." She paused for a moment, her hands trembled slightly, she opened her mouth and then closed it again. Her eyes searched the room and then she stuffed another pair in the bag. "It's the NSA."

"The NSA?" Chuck echoed. It felt like he'd been kicked in the gut. "The NSA-who-protects-me. NSA?"

"Yes," she confirmed, "and we only have five minutes before Casey is going to figure out that I jammed the bugs in this room."

"Casey? Five minutes? Sarah, I can't leave in five minutes." He stood watching her grab his shirts off hangers. "Why would the NSA want to kill me?"

"I did some checking on that," Sarah answered. "A new Intersect went online last week. A fully functional Intersect." She emphasized the words "fully functional." This one was not a Fulcrum trick.

"So what? They're done using me so…so… they just execute me?"

"Looks that way." Sarah confirmed."That's why we need to go, now!"

"This has to be some sort of mistake, Sarah. What about Ellie? What about Morgan?"

Sarah grabbed him by the shirt and stood on her tip toes to see right in his eyes. With controlled intensity she said, "Listen to me, Chuck. If we do not leave now, there are going to be some men here with very big guns, and all of them will have one thing on their mind - 'kill Chuck Bartowski'. Now I'm going to do my best to keep that from happening. But you have to trust me. Now pack!" The command in her voice was unmistakable.

In a trance, Chuck grabbed a suitcase from under the bed, set it on his bedspread, and started filling it with socks and underwear. He looked around for things to pack. What do you take with you when you run from the government? He spotted his IPod and cell phone on his night stand and tossed them in.

His eyes continued to move around the room. Was this the last time he would see it? At his desk he paused and picked up the picture of him and Sarah with Ellie and Awesome. His sister was going to wake up tomorrow morning and he would be gone – forever?

He might just be sick. He sat down heavily in the desk chair. _Had it come to this?_ he wondered. Is this how his story was going to end?

"Sorry Chuck, the phone stays here." Sarah said, snatching the cell phone out of his case and throwing it onto the bed. "And grab any cash you might have, or anything else of value - we'll need it."

"Sarah, I won't just leave." He had made up his mind. "This is my life, my family… This can't be real."

"Dammit, Chuck," Sarah hissed. He had rarely heard her so angry.

"I won't go,Sarah," he declared. "I would rather die then leave Ellie a lifetime of not knowing."

She walked over to him and slapped him cross the face, not hard, but enough to get his attention. "They are going to kill you, and now they're probably going to kill me too. We don't have time for this…" she waved her hands in the air like a mad woman, "this…pity party," she spat. "Either you come with me now or you stay and Ellie finds you cold and bleeding all over your bedroom floor."

The image of Ellie finding him murdered flashed before his eyes. Would that be worse or better then him just disappearing? Or maybe they would take his body, and he would be missing either way. He focused on Sarah. She stood, waiting for him. He could tell she was holding her breath. Chuck was amazed by the expression on her face, her eyes were focused, her jaw was clenching. It was the same look, Chuck realized, that she had on the rooftop when he was being taken away by Longshore. But now she was more intense. And for the first time Chuck saw that it was fear that he saw in her eyes. The gravity of their situation suddenly hit home.

"I'll go with you," he said.

Sarah released her breath. "Good. Grab your ID's and passports. They'll have to do until I can get us new ones. And do you have good walking shoes? Boots or anything like that?"

"In the back corner," Chuck said, pointing. He grabbed the shoebox that contained his CIA identifications under his bed and shoved it in his suitcase.

A few minutes later, with zipped bags, they stood looking at each other. It was so final, what they were doing. Once they stepped out the window everything was going to change. "Is there anything else you want?" Sarah asked, "We can't come back here again."

Chuck looked quickly around the room one last time. There was only one thing he wanted. "Can I leave a note for Ellie?" He asked. "Just so she won't worry about me?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not a good idea, Chuck. The less Ellie and Devon know the better."

Chuck nodded. That's what he expected she would say. "Let's go then."

Sarah went to the Morgan door. "Keep against the wall, in the shadows," she told him. "I'll go first and set up cover for you. Hopefully Casey won't see us." Chuck saw a flash of panic in her eye when she mentioned Casey. What would happen if they were caught in the courtyard? Yesterday Chuck would have sworn that Sarah would never hurt Casey, now he wasn't so sure.

"Run for the parking lot," she continued, "and look for a silver Camry."

"What happened to the Porsche?" he asked.

"I needed the cash. Now, count to twenty and follow me."

Sarah drew her gun, quietly swung open the window and stepped outside. As soon as he saw her disappear into the shadows, Chuck quickly turned around and snatched up the notepad on his desk. He scribbled a quick note, and then wiping his eyes, he headed out the window.

He stayed in the darkest areas, up against the apartment building, just like she said to. His heart was beating so loudly, he was sure everyone in the complex could hear him. But he made it to the archway safely. Sarah joined him there and together they ran out into the parking lot.

If Chuck had turned around, as he darted out his bedroom, he might have seen the blinds shift ever so slightly in Casey's window. But he would have never heard when the hardened agent whispered, "Good luck, Bartowski."

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When Chuck finished telling the story, Charlie sat up and stretched and rolled his shoulders. "That's unbelievable. So where did you go?" he asked.

"Mexico," Sarah answered. "It was a logical choice. I had spent several years in that part of the world, I spoke the language. I knew how things worked. I even still had a few connections I could pull on in an emergency."

Chuck looked down at his watch. "Well, I'm starving. What do you say we grab some lunch?"

Sarah looked at him gratefully. "I'm not that hungry but I could use a break."

"So you're just going to leave me hanging here? You're not going to tell me what happened in Mexico?" Charlie asked standing and dusting off his pants.

"Don't worry," Sarah said, putting an arm on his shoulder. "We came here to tell you everything, and we will."

* * *

Special thanks go to **BillAtWork** who looked at my first story and encouraged me to write more, and to **Sharpasamarble** who kicked my butt and pushed me make it better (Sharp, I have taken up the gauntlet.) I've used many of his suggestions in this story. Final thanks go to **Arathorn** who beta read this final version. Your advice has been invaluable! All mistakes are mine.


	2. Sarah's Confession

**Revelations**

**by MySoapBox**

**Chapter 2: Sarah's Confession**

* * *

Sarah and Chuck let Charlie choose the lunch location. They loaded back into their car and within five minutes they pulled into the shopping district of downtown Palo Alto. They ordered their food at the counter of a local eatery and chose to eat outside at a small, round table with a blue umbrella, for a little extra privacy. They still had a lot more ground they needed to cover.

By the time Charlie had devoured his steak sandwich, Sarah had barely made a dent in her salad and Chuck was only half through with a turkey on wheat. Charlie took a drink of his soda and leaned forward in his chair.

"Are you going to eat that Mom?" Charlie asked, pointing at her salad with his fork.

"I'm not very hungry," Sarah admitted and slid her plate over to Charlie.

Charlie picked up the plastic cup of dressing and poured the rest of it over the salad. "Enough stalling! Why don't you tell me about Mexico while I finish this up."

Chuck looked down at his plate. "I've still got half a sandwich here so Sarah why don't you start."

Sarah took a deep breath. "After we left Aunt Ellie's, we drove all night to the border. We crossed without problem. My partner must have given us enough warning to get a good head start. Within a week we had picked up new IDs, a new car, and from there we just kept moving."

Charlie stabbed a tomato. "You just 'picked up' new IDs?"

"One thing I learned from your mom is that a few well-placed dollars down there can get you just about anything." Chuck took a sip of his drink. "Well, anything but a good motel."

Sarah laughed. "That's true. All our time was spent in crappy motels because they take cash and don't ask questions."

"So what did you do? How did you live?" Charlie asked, scraping together the last few bites on his plate.

Chuck had finished and he put down his napkin. "It was just day-to-day at first. I was pretty messed up, with losing my family and friends - my life basically - and your mom…well, she kept us moving."

Sarah shook her head. "I was just making it up, but I didn't want your dad to know that. Eventually, I decided what I should do…but it didn't work out the way I planed."

"So what was the plan mom? Buy a boat and sail away into the sunset?" Charlie joked.

Chuck glanced over at Sarah. She knew from his eyes that he was gauging her reaction. He was concerned. She had decided to tell Charlie everything. If he was going to understand what happened, he would have to know it all. And this next part of the story specifically reflected the kind of person she had been. She wasn't going to gloss this over.

Charlie must have noticed the unspoken exchange between his them, because his face was full of anticipation.

"Maybe Charlie and I could take a little walk?" Sarah said to Chuck. "I think that might be easiest."

"Sure, sure," Chuck said quickly. "There are some things I'd like to do on campus anyway."

"Okay, we'll meet you at the Oval in say," she glanced at her watch, "an hour?" She looked up at Charlie and he nodded his agreement.

Chuck and Sarah kissed goodbye on the sidewalk. Sarah mouthed the words "thank you" to him as he got into the car. Chuck just smiled, nodded, and pulled away.

Charlie stood there waiting. He looked half embarrassed, half confused. Sarah turned to him and laced her arm into his. "Walk with me?" she asked.

It was the perfect summer day as they started strolling down University Avenue towards campus. _This is small town USA_, Sarah thought, with small shops covered by awnings and large shady oak trees dotting the street. They shared the sidewalk with many others, students on bikes, women passing with shopping bags, but they all disappeared from focus as Sarah considered how to talk about things long passed with her only son.

Charlie cleared is throat. "So Mom, I'm not sure what you didn't want to say in front of dad but…"

"Don't worry," she interrupted, "I'm not going to tell you anything he doesn't know. I just thought it would be easier this way."

"Easier? How?"

"There are some things that you need to hear from my mouth, and I didn't want you to worry too much about him…how he was feeling…when I tell you what happened."

"Ok, so tell me."

They paused at a crosswalk and waited for the signal. The signal turned green and she squeezed his arm as they crossed the street. "My original plan was to leave your father." Charlie looked over at her in surprise. "Hear me out," she said. "The CIA was looking for both us. It would be too dangerous for us to stay together. Or at least, that is what I told myself." Sarah took a few more steps and added, "The truth was, I thought I could never be with your dad - in any kind of romantic sense."

Charlie turned to her in disbelief, "You guys still weren't together yet?"

Sarah peered over into the shop window they were passing. "No, not really. I thought that if he truly knew me, if he knew all that I had done, he wouldn't want to be with me, so… I hadn't planned on even giving him a chance."

"Why would you think that mom? Dad loves you more than anything in the world."

Sarah looked away from him. It was time for her to start telling the hard stuff. She knew she wasn't good with words so she had rehearsed a speech. Over the last few days she had gone over it a hundred times in her mind. She knew what she had to say but now that she was here, she was nervous.

_Your insecurities haven't changed so much over the years, have they?_ she silently berated herself.

She steeled herself and plunged in. "You know, Charlie, if there is one thing I learned from Grandpa Jack, it's that a person can tell themselves a lot of things to justify what they do. In the CIA I was trained to put my emotions aside and do the job. I was told that what I did was for the greater good, to keep the world safe, and I believed it. When I did something that didn't feel right, I told myself the lines and it helped me sleep at night.

Charlie kept his eyes on the sidewalk ahead, but reached over with his left hand and placed it on hers to show that he was listening.

"But after a few years as an agent - I didn't have to tell myself the lines anymore, because I just cut out the part of me that felt – felt anything at all. It helped with my work, made things less complicated, but sometimes, when I would see a happy couple or a family, I had the sense that I had lost something along the way." She paused for a moment as a group of young people passed. "Then I met your father." Sarah shook her head. "I didn't understand exactly how or why at the time but, he brought some of those feelings back. To say having those feelings complicated my job was an understatement. But I couldn't let them go because…for the first time I saw a glimpse of what my life could be. That maybe what I thought was impossible - was possible." She paused for a few seconds remembering. "I think that is why I was willing to leave the only life I had ever known to save him. And that is why I was going to leave him, because I knew he deserved more than what little I had to give."

Charlie looked over to her, amazed.

"I know, I know, it must sound crazy to you given where your father and I are now." She sighed at looked up at the gnarled tree branches overhead. "It's hard to even remember feeling that way." She turned to him to drive her point home. "But that is what the job does to you; it consumes you, and makes you into what you have to be to survive. Even if that means loosing your humanity along the way."

They stopped and waited for traffic to cross to the other side of the street. Sarah let go of his arm as they crossed, but once on the other sidewalk he reached out and grabbed her hand. _He is more then I deserve, _Sarah thought again.

"But you didn't leave him," Charlie supplied.

"No," she said. "I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

Charlie playfully bumped into her arm, "I'm glad you didn't."

Sarah smiled at him, "Me too, because things got a lot more complicated." She looked down at the sidewalk. "I found out I was expecting…you."

Charlie stopped and turned to her. "Oh my gosh, Mom!" His eyes were as big as saucers. "Dad knocked you up?" he cried.

Sarah heard a little gasp from a trio of older women window shopping nearby. She ducked her head down and rolled her eyes. Charlie got his subtlety from his dad.

Charlie must have noticed the stir he caused because then he leaned in said "Sorry, what I meant to say was…" Then he cupped his mouth and stage whispered "Dad knocked you up!" He held her gaze for a moment and then cracked a sly smile.

Sarah slapped him on the arm, "You can laugh about it now, but at the time it was very frightening," Sarah gave him a serious look, "with very real consequences for your dad and I."

They began walking again. "I thought you said that you and dad weren't together, in a romantic way, I mean."

"Technically, we weren't. It happened only one time." She glanced up at bird slipping into one of many nests built in the store sign above. "It was the kind of thing we've told you not to do since you were old enough to understand what we were talking about." She puffed out a breath, "We had been on the run for a few weeks. We thought that any moment we would be caught or killed. I hadn't slept well and then one night…" she paused. "Hey, why am I telling you this? This actually is none of your business. You just have to know it happened and that it was stupid."

"Hey now! Look who you're talking about here!" he said pointing to himself with his free hand.

"I was talking about how it happened not the result," Sarah said, "It was just…terrible timing."

"So, what did you do?" Charlie asked.

"I didn't want to tell your dad. I knew he'd want to do the honorable thing." She did air quotes for the word 'honorable.' "So my first thought was to…well…end the pregnancy." She choked on the last few words. "I'm so sorry Charlie, so sorry for even thinking it."

"Hey, hey," Charlie said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "That sounds rough. I can't imagine."

"That's nice of you to say. But it must be really horrible for you to hear." She wiped away one renegade tear.

"Well, yeah, it isn't like I'm going to make it my Facebook status or anything." He laughed at his own joke but Sarah could tell that his heart wasn't in it. He was so much like Chuck that way, putting aside his own feelings to try to make her feel better. "But you didn't go through with it, right?" Sarah shook her head. "Of course you didn't, what am I saying?" and he laughed again. "So tell me, what changed your mind and stopped you from making the biggest mistake of your life – and mine."

"It was your father, after I finally summoned the courage to tell him…"

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Sarah lay in bed, but she couldn't sleep. They had opened the windows before retiring, but the hot air just stood stale in the room. How much she wished that a fresh wind would come and blow it all away. Chuck had manfully given her the bed but she heard his slow breathing so she knew he faired much better then she, even on the floor. She cursed the heat as she tossed again to try to find a comfortable position, but if she was being honest with herself, it wasn't the temperature keeping her awake. Her body already felt the tell tale signs of breast sensitivity and mood shifts; it ached. But she knew it wasn't her body that kept her awake either. It was her mind's relentless clamoring.

_I'm so stupid_, she berated herself. How could she have allowed the two of them to do something so utterly foolish? It happened when emotions were raw and they didn't know if they would live to see another day. She was not prepared. As an agent she was trained to always have an exit strategy, always have a 'plan B' in case things went south. But she could see no clear exit this time. There was only one easy way out of it. She shifted again and an involuntary moan escaped her lips.

She looked over at Chuck's sleeping frame. He did not stir. She covered her head with her pillow. She knew that this kind of raw personal honesty was costly, even in the dead of night. Could he love her? The real woman, behind the mask? She remembered watching Star Wars, that last movie when Luke takes the mask off his dying father. Under that black powerful mask was an ugly white blob of a head, ashen face, and lifeless eyes. She and Darth Vader were alike in some ways.

She shook her head to clear the image from her mind. That was the movies and this was real life.

Sarah moved her hands to her still flat stomach and thought of the life inside her. If she remembered her biology right her baby was just the size of a peanut, a little space alien peanut with large black eyes, a curved spine and tail, and little hands with stubby fingers. _Another white blob_, she laughed darkly to herself and then sobered. This white blob was different from the one in the movie. This life was not at its ending, but at its beginning. It hadn't become - it was becoming. This white blob peanut had infinite possibilities. She had already taken so many lives from this world. Could she really take another? This life was so different from the others. Sarah Walker killed the evil to protect the innocent, not the other way around. And maybe, just maybe, having this child could somehow fill the emptiness she had been feeling.

Just as she had this last thought, she knew it was screwed up. Babies are not solutions, they are problems. Problems that needed a loving mom and dad to handle them. But she was not mother material. Her only examples of moms had been on TV sitcoms and she was pretty certain that those were not real moms either.

She moved her hands across her stomach and imagined it growing big and round. She thought of running away to some town, totally off the grid and giving birth alone in some back woods hospital. What kind of life could she offer this child? She took a shuddering breath. She could not do this. She simply could not do this. A wave of despair washed over her with more force then her emotional levees could contain. Under the pressure, Sarah Walker broke.

Drowning and drowning, she was only vaguely aware of the squeaking of the bedsprings, or the weight that shifted the balance of the bed. The fingers brushing away her damp hair from her face were like a breath of life giving air. His arms, placed gently around her, were a raft and she turned to him and clung to him to save her life.

He wrapped his left arm under her, pressing her securely against his chest, and with his right hand he began to stroke her hair again, pushing golden strands up and over her ear.

"Shhh" he said to calm her. "It's going to be alright. Sarah, I'm right here. I'm right here." She didn't hear everything he whispered to her, but after a few minutes of just being near him, she began to calm. She could feel her heart slowing, the waves coming less frequently, the flow of her eyes drying.

"Are you going to be okay?" he finally asked.

Sarah sniffled, "I'm not sure," she confessed.

"Do you think, at least, that you could loosen your grip on my neck? It's kind of hard to breath," Chuck asked.

"Sorry" she moved her hand to rest on his shoulder.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Chuck whispered, still stroking her hair. It was the most intimate they had been since that one night. Sarah didn't answer but closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose. She could smell the staleness of the motel room, the remnants of cigarette smoke on walls and carpet. But mostly she could smell him, the smell of musk mixed with the sweat of the day. The combined scents were so totally male, that it reminded her of good times with her dad when she was a little girl, back before she was Sarah Walker, back when she was too small to really understand what was going on, but not too small to enjoy the adventure of being on the road, just her dad and her. She felt safe then and she felt safe now somehow, in Chuck's arms. She hadn't felt that way in a long time.

"Sarah?" he whispered again.

"Yeah?" she answered thickly.

"You're scaring me." Sarah opened her eyes and saw tightness in his face. "Is there something wrong? Something you're not telling me?"

"We're not in danger, if that is what you're asking," she said, "at least not any more then we already are."

"What then?" Chuck asked. Sarah turned her head to examine the light patterns from the window falling across the ceiling. Chuck sounded anxious when he continued. "We've been at this for months now, Sarah, and…I think we've made a pretty good team. Neither of us has ever been a fugitive before so…for being first timers and everything…things have gone pretty smoothly…overall." She felt Chuck's hand on her face, turning her toward him. "Hey" his voice softened intimately, "if…it's something I've done to upset you, well…then I want you to tell me; I deserve to know, so I can make it right."

_He deserved to know._ The truth of those words penetrated her to the very core. Why hadn't it crossed her mind before? Didn't he deserve a say in what happened to their child just as much as she did? "Their child," biting her lip, she mentally repeated the words; her walls of resolution began to wash away. "Chuck" the word caught in her throat. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

He must have sensed her panic. "It's okay, I'm right here," he soothed.

Sarah's breath hitched. She rolled her eyes in frustration. She needed to get a hold of herself.

"Would it help if we played twenty questions?" Chuck asked, "You could just nod your head yes or no."

Sarah wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand and laughed nervously. Leave it to Chuck to try to put her at ease. She really loved that about him. Her mind caught on to that thought. She really loved that about him. She - loved - him. She had known it for awhile now, but she always tried to push the feeling aside. With love comes trust, right? Not the shallow, convenient kinds of love she had had in her past, but with true love, the kind that you give your whole heart to, the kind they sing about on the radio and the kind she'd seen in movies. That sort of love took trust. Sarah thought for a moment. She trusted Chuck with her life. That must mean something. The thought gave her courage.

She sighed deeply and then added voice to the words that had swirled around her head by day and danced in her dreams at night. "Chuck…" She gripped the front of his shirt with both hands, "I'm…I'm pregnant."

There, she had said it. Part of her wanted to close her eyes, to hide from him, but the other part of her, the stronger part, needed to see his reaction, every painfully honest detail. And so she didn't look away, but stared him in the face. She could feel herself teetering on the edge. So much was riding on the next few seconds of her life.

At first, his eyes went wide, unabashed. And then Chuck did something that took Sarah by total surprise.

He smiled.

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"Dad just smiled at you?" Charlie asked incredulously. "That's hard to believe. I mean if a girl ever told me that she was…well…I think I would freak."

"Well, let's not ever find out. Ok?"

"Yeah mom, but I don't see how you can even go there after what you…"

Sarah stopped in her tracks shot up her hand and planted it firmly across his mouth. "Don't you dare finish that statement Charles John Bartowski. Just because your dad and I made mistakes does not mean that I'm not still your mother." She glared at him and then added for good measure, "And remember, I still can kick your butt."

Charlie nodded. Sarah knew that he was well aware that she couldn't kick his butt anymore, but the message was understood. He could not use what she was telling him against her or Chuck, not now, not ever. She took down her hand from his mouth, dusted off an invisible piece of lint off of his t-shirt and they continued walking.

The sidewalk dipped under an overpass and then over another road as the transitioned onto Palm Drive, the road that led right into the heart of Stanford University. Palm Drive was aptly named, Sarah thought, as she looked down the straight rode lined with palm trees on either side, she just wished the trees provided a little better shade. The afternoon was hot, and Sarah was glad that she had kept in shape through all the aches and pains that had set on after forty.

"So what happened next?" Charlie prompted. "You guys just hooked up… happily ever after and all that?"

Sarah chuckled. "No, far from it. Being a spy totally screws with your ability to have relationships."

"Like, how?"

"Well, when you're a civilian, things can be pretty black and white, good and bad."

"Yeah, not totally, but yeah."

"But as an agent I had to do a lot of things that were morally grey. Things I knew your father would not approve of. You know the kind of man your father is." Charlie nodded. "Your dad needed to know what he was getting into with me. I owed him that much. So I decided to tell him everything."

They stepped off the path to let a group of bicyclists pass. "Everything you did as a spy?"

"Yes," Sarah confirmed

"Wasn't that a little risky?"

"Charlie, I have faced down terrorists; I have fought with revolutionaries; I have dined with assassins but never have I felt so powerless, so utterly exposed as I did during those first few weeks in a real relationship with your father."

"Yeah, I can get that." He kicked a rock off of the sidewalk. "So, what did Dad say?"

"Most nights he would just listen…absorbing it all. A few times he got angry to the point of yelling, or even worse, he would bottle it up and not speak to me for hours, or one time – days."

"The saying nothing part sounds just like dad, but the yelling part is…hard to imagine."

Sarah hummed her agreement. "Those were emotional times. I thought my revelations would drive him away. Every morning, I expected to wake up to an empty room. But then the sun would rise and there he'd be.

"And then one morning I woke up in a little traveler's house in El Salvador and I knew."

Sarah hadn't thought of it for a long time but the memories flooded back to her.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sarah watched him lying next to her, breathing in and out. His hair had gotten longer in the past months and it curled around his head like a lion's mane. His face, so lined and taut during the stressful days, lay slack and peaceful as he slumbered.

Her heart filled with love for him and she realized that this is what she wanted. This was her salvation. She laid her hand on her stomach, unnoticeably swelling now, with the new life inside her. This was their child, his and hers. She may turn out to be a horrible mother, but she had done something right; she had given her child the best father in the world. She felt that ray of hope enter her heart and fill her to overflowing. She pushed a curl back from his face and he stirred.

"What…Sarah…is everything okay," Chuck asked groggily.

"Shh…everything's fine. I just have something I need to tell you and then you go back to sleep."

"Sarah, what is it?"

"I wanted to say….that I love you." She looked at him and in the dusky light and tried to communicate with her eyes all that the words didn't seem enough to say.

He smiled, a big heart warming smile, and he breathed deeply and sighed. "I love you too, Sarah." And then he reached for her and she allowed herself to be pulled down beside him.

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Charlie interrupted her revelry. "Knew what?"

Sarah focused her eyes back on his face. "Sorry, what was I saying?"

"You just said that one morning in El Salvador you knew something."

"Yes," Sarah said looking right in his eyes. "I knew that I wanted us to be a family."

Up ahead, on the right, Sarah spotted a convenience store. "Do you mind?" she asked. She had been doing a lot of talking and the sun was almost straight up in the sky. A diet coke sounded like just the thing about now.

Five minutes later they exited the store, Sarah with her coke, Charlie with a Slurpee, and they were back on the sidewalk. The pedestrian traffic was light, for which Sarah was grateful.

After a few long drags on his straw Charlie broke the silence. "So something's been bothering me."

"Just one thing?"

"Well, no, lots of things, but one thing in particular."

"What's that?"

"How long were you gone?" he asked.

"If you mean how long were we on the run, a little over three years."

"So I wasn't born in Virginia?"

"No, you were born outside of Managua."

"Nicaragua?" He asked, stunned. "Then why does my birth certificate say Virginia?"

Sarah had forgotten about that. "Just another little gift from the CIA. A cover story," she clarified, "to avoid complications."

"To avoid complications?" he repeated.

"Yes."

"Mom, I'm totally confused."

"You won't be." She wrapped her free arm around his waist. "You just haven't heard the rest of the story yet." Sarah looked up and saw the Oval ahead. "Let's go find your father."

* * *

_Many thanks to Sharpasamarble for his great beta. He continues to save me from myself. All mistakes are mine. _


	3. Gold or Not It Didn't Matter

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 3: Gold or Not; It Didn't Matter**

* * *

Chuck sat on a bench at the center of the Stanford Oval. The bench faced a big "S" made out of red and white petunias, encircled by a low green hedge. The Oval Park, at the heart of the University, had always been a great place to pick up a game of volleyball or soccer or just to lounge around on a Saturday afternoon. He looked around at the familiar sandstone buildings with terracotta roofs and the students playing or just lazing and catching some sun. _Some things didn't change much_, he thought. The idea was comforting to him. He looked down to his hand held computer. He had been trying to finish some correspondence for work but he was failing miserably. With a deep sigh, he closed the document and slid the device back into his pocket. He was too distracted. So much was riding on today's conversation with Charlie; all of his son's future lay out before him and Chuck wanted that future to be the happiest possible for his only child.

Just as he had every five minutes for the past thirty, Chuck looked up in the direction that he knew Sarah and Charlie would be coming from, anxious to see how this part of their revelations had gone. This time his obsessiveness was rewarded by seeing their small figures making their way down the sidewalk in the distance. He couldn't tell from here what sort of mood they were in but he trusted that Sarah would say the right thing, in spite of her own nervousness. Sarah always had a way of making things right in the end.

It would still be a few minutes until they made it to where he waited and Chuck tapped his foot anxiously. He looked down at his hands and noticed that he was absentmindedly twisting his wedding bad with his thumb. He held his hand up to the sunlight to examine the band. After all these years he still wasn't sure if it was even gold. The man at the small street stall had told him they were 14 karat when he traded for the two rings with his watch, an I-pod and some cash. Gold or not, it didn't matter, it was what the ring symbolized that meant most to Chuck. He liked the way the ring had made a permanent dent in his flesh; how even now, when removed, it was as if the ring was still there, it was a part of him. Twirling it again thoughtfully with his other hand he thought back to the day Sarah put this ring on his finger.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Let's go for a walk" Chuck said to Sarah, after they had finished the last of their dinner. Sarah was six months along and visibly pregnant now. Chuck couldn't tell from the back. But from the front it looked as if she were carrying a basketball under her shirt. She was self-conscious about her figure, but to Chuck, she looked more beautiful then ever.

"You know it isn't safe for us to go wandering around in public too much," Sarah protested, but Chuck could tell her heart wasn't quite in it.

"Awh, come on. We'll be leaving in the morning, and it is going to be a lovely night. No one here will ever see us again. Please?" he said, trying to put on his best puppy-dog eyes.

Sarah tilted her head ever so slightly and smiled. "All right. But let's not go far."

Chuck settled the bill with the patron and held the door open for Sarah; they walked out into the early evening light.

Chuck smiled to himself in anticipation. Last afternoon while Sarah napped, Chuck had gone on an expedition around the town looking for the right spot. She would have been furious if she knew he was walking around town alone, but it had been months since they had had even a hint of being pursued. Chuck hoped that the government had given up, but if he was being honest with himself he knew that was just wishful thinking. They had made it this far not because they weren't been sought, they had made it this far because Sarah was such a great agent – or - ex-agent as the case may be.

Thus prepared, tonight as they walked in the humid evening breeze, Chuck knew exactly where he was leading her. He steered Sarah through the small winding streets trying to make it appear that they were just wondering aimlessly looking for a good view. He hoped Sarah bought it, but he could tell by her occasional curious glance that she suspected something. Thankfully she seemed content to let it all play out. Chuck would take what he could get; he couldn't really pull one over on her; Sarah was a super spy after all.

The road they followed led up to a small rise. They walked quietly, hand in hand, both enjoying the moment. It was a relief to see her so relaxed tonight. To tell the truth, he had been worried about her and the toll their hectic lives were taking on her and the baby. Sarah could never shake the idea that she was responsible for them and their safety. Even with her present "condition" she never relinquished her role as his protector. Chuck wouldn't be surprised if she was armed multiple ways even now; in fact he would guarantee it. But in this moment, walking down a nearly empty dirt road, she seemed content. Chuck released her hand and put his arm around her back to help her the last little way. He was sure she didn't need his help, but it was the gentlemanly thing to do, and she didn't complain.

As soon as they reached the top of the rise, they stopped to take in the view. The ocean that lay before them was deep blue, almost purple; it cut a striking straight line against the horizon that contrasted greatly with the green, rolling hills on either side. Chuck watched Sarah out of the corner of his eye. He had heard older woman say that an expectant mother would "glow." He always thought that was a funny term, pregnant women always just looked uncomfortable to him. But now as he watched Sarah, her cheeks lightly pink from the exertion, she was glowing. He could just see it in her face.

"It makes you feel small, doesn't it?" Chuck said softly turning his whole attention back to the ocean. Sarah just smiled and wrapped her arm around his back in response. Chuck continued, "Like maybe our problems aren't that big after all."

Sarah laughed darkly. "I don't know, they still feel pretty big to me."

"Yeah, but when you look out over this beautiful world," he swept the horizon with his eyes; "they don't seem the-most-powerful-government-in-the-world-wants-you-dead big? They only feel if-my-bed-smells-like-goats-one-more-night-I-think-I'm-going-to-scream big."

Sarah laughed again, this time a real laugh. "I guess you could say that."

After some more time taking in the view, Chuck took her hand and led her up a foot path up the hill behind them. Their way twisted through the brush, and Chuck put his hand on the small of Sarah's back to be sure her footing was secure. It wasn't far until the path opened out into a large courtyard made of ancient stone. It was a courtyard for an old Spanish cathedral that looked as if it had stood sentinel over this ocean view for hundreds of years. Its dilapidated appearance caused Sarah to wonder out loud if it was still in use. But as they drew closer to investigate, fresh whitewash around the doorframe, and fresh footsteps in the dirt path leading to the entrance told them that it was, perhaps on weekends; this evening however, it seemed deserted of people.

In the middle of the courtyard there was a fountain, weather worn and dry, but similar to form and size of the fountain that used to be in front of Ellie's apartment, where Chuck and Sarah had held so many conversations before. Chuck hoped that the resemblance wasn't lost on Sarah as he led her over to the edge of the structure.

"Would you like to sit a minute?" he asked. And Sarah, who seemed happy to have a break, sat on the faded blue tiles without further question. Chuck took his place beside her.

"I think we should get started tomorrow before first light," Sarah began, "If we don't stop for lunch I think we can make it to…."

Chuck put his finger up to her lips to silence her. "Sarah, I don't want to talk about work right now." He still thought of it as work, though he knew that neither of them had garnished a paycheck for almost a year.

Sarah's eyes had a flash of suspicion and Chuck warily drew his hand away. "Okay, Chuck," she said, "what do you want to talk about?"

Chuck looked up at the cathedral, trying to remember the little speech he had been silently practicing the last few days. "Sarah," he stammered, suddenly nervous, "in some ways…I mean besides the running thing and the hiding all the time thing…and the loosing my whole life thing…these past few months have been some of the happiest of my life."

A quick smile twitched up the corners of Sarah's lips. "Mine too," she said.

Encouraged, Chuck inched closer. "And I know that things haven't really happened the way we expected…certainly not what I expected, and I'm sure you weren't planning something this crazy…but in some ways - the you and me ways - they are much better than I ever dreamed."

"Yes," she agreed tentatively, glancing around at the view, the church, putting the pieces together.

Chuck reached out his hand and stroked Sarah's cheek intimately. "Sarah, when I think of what happened to me, with the Intersect and everything, I can't imagine where I would be today if you hadn't come into my life. You've been like an angel sent to watch over me."

Sarah laughed, shaky and breathless. "Far from an angel," she said.

Chuck pulled her hand into his and looked down at the joining. "But it feels that way to me, even if you can't see that now."

Sarah's voice was apologetic. "I don't mean to discount your compliment; that's just still a little hard for me to understand."

Chuck looked her full in the face. "Then you'll just have to trust me." He willed his eyes to say all that his words couldn't say.

"I'm getting there," she said.

"You're more than just getting there, these last few months with you…Sarah, you've been amazing. Even in my wildest dreams I never thought you would share all those things about your past with me."

She started to doodle on the back of his hand with her finger. "Given our current circumstances there was no professional reason to keep them from you and…on a personal level" she looked up to meet his eyes, "I wanted you to know."

"I'm glad you did," he said smiling.

"Me too," she said shyly.

A few moments passed in silence as the sun moved slowly down the horizon, casting long shadows across the courtyard. Chuck knew that the time had arrived and the thought made his heart's pace quicken. Propelled by his inner determination he stood from his spot and knelt on one knee in front of Sarah. As he reached out and took her hands in his, his hands were trembling and he was sure that it did not escape Sarah's notice.

"Sarah…" he breathed. Sarah glanced nervously away, then she quickly re-focused on him; her eyes were glittering with unshed tears. "When I think of my future," he continued, encouraged, "I can't imagine it without you in it." He fumbled in his jacket pocket and pulled out a plain gold band. "Will you marry me?"

The words hung there for a moment in the warm breeze. At first Sarah seemed pleased, and then a second later her face darkened with concern. "Chuck, I…" she began.

Chuck rushed to steam off what he feared she would say. "I…I know that I can't promise you a lifetime, or years or even weeks." Chuck tried to speak calmly. "But I can promise you today and tomorrow and the day after, as long as I have breath to live, I can promise you that." He was speaking from the heart and he hoped it was a language Sarah had learned to understand by now.

Sarah's face became a mask, unreadable. Chuck waited for an answer, but feared it would not come. She started to pull her hand away, but Chuck increased the pressure of his grip.

Chuck was nearly begging. "For me – for you - Sarah, say yes."

Sarah's eyes overflowed. She pulled her hand from Chuck's and stepped away from him, turning her back and facing the ocean. The breeze ruffled her hair back from her face and she wrapped her arms around herself, though it was not cold.

Chuck ran one hand through his hair and felt the weight of the ring in the other. It had been a gamble to push her. Sarah could be very skittish when it came to showing emotions and making commitments. It was a difficult dance for Chuck to learn, knowing when to push and when to hold back, and he didn't always get it right. But more and more these days, Sarah was meeting him halfway, and now with her back to him, and all his happiness in the balance, he sensed that this was one of those times when he just had to sit very still and give her the space she needed. He tried to be hopeful that they had built something strong enough to hold up to all her demons of doubt. An eternity of moments passed. Still he waited for her.

Finally, her fists drop to her side and tighten into white knuckled balls. "No" she finally said, it was just a whisper on the breeze but Chuck heard it. His heart sunk. He had pushed her too hard this time.

She turned to face him. Chuck saw her eyes, searching his, suddenly intent. "No, I won't do it for you, or even for me…" Chuck's breathing stopped. Sarah continued, her expression softening, "but I will do it for _us_. What we have together." Her lips turned up into a smile.

And before Chuck could respond she had crashed into him, her lips crushing his. Chuck wrapped his arms around her in response, feeling her round stomach press against him. And in that moment, as they communicated in a way only lovers can, he felt as if he held the whole world in his arms.

When they finally broke apart Chuck's confidence was restored; he reached into his pocket and pulled out another ring, a larger one, and he held it up for Sarah to see. "I don't understand," she said.

"We're going to get married now - here."

Sarah was surprised. "But Chuck, you know…"

"I'm not giving you a chance to back out," he interrupted. "We are going to say our vows here and now and make it official. I told you once that one day I would have the life that I wanted with the woman that I loved. Today is that day," he declared.

"But you know we can't get married now. There's paperwork, blood tests. We can't risk it."

"I know," Chuck acknowledged, "and I wasn't planning on making it legal. I wasn't planning a church wedding or anything. But Sarah, I don't feel like I need all that to make a lifetime commitment, do you?"

"But then, how…"

"I already said." He was playing with her now, but there was real seriousness to his voice. "Let's get married right here, by this…lovely fountain, in view of God," he gestured to the cathedral, "and nature," he flourished his hands towards the ocean.

Sarah eyed him suspiciously for a moment and then laughed. "Alright, Mr. Bartowski. I'm game. What do we do?" all previous concerns lost from her manner and voice.

"Well," he said, "I think you start out over there." He motioned to the edge of the courtyard. "And I stand here," he said taking his place beside the fountain.

"Alright," Sarah said, walking to where the stones met the flora. Once there, she called back, "Now what?"

"You walk to me. You know how they do, step touch, step touch."

"Oh, I see where this is going." She smiled and reached down and pulled up some yellow wildflowers that were growing there, making a makeshift bouquet. After arranging the flowers just right, she began her march towards him. Step touch, step touch, just like Chuck had told her and with each step her face, once playful, grew more and more serious. She walked gracefully to the tune of birds and distant ocean waves and Chuck was sure he could hear music in the wind. Her face was brilliant in the setting sun, the ocean breeze gently tossing her hair into a halo about her face. She took Chuck's breath away.

She stopped when she reached him and he held out his hands to her. "Will you take my hands?" he asked, his face had grown earnest. She placed her flowers on the fountains edge and clasped hands with him and they stood there silently, looking into each other's eyes, trying to read the other's thoughts.

"I guess…I'll begin," Chuck said awkwardly. Sarah nodded her consent. Chuck nervously cleared his throat. "Sarah Walker," he began, then paused a second to assemble his thoughts. "I'm sorry; do you want me to use Sarah? Or would you rather me use your real name?" he asked sincerely. He wanted everything to be perfect for her.

She looked up into Chuck's warm eyes for a moment and then leaned in and said softly in his ear, "I have felt more myself as Sarah then any other name I've ever had. The girl who had my real name, died a long time ago. To you and from now on I will always be Sarah." Her breath on his neck sent shivers down his spine. She leaned away from him and Chuck nodded his head in approval.

"I, Charles Irving Bartowski, take you, Sarah Walker, to be my wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as I shall live. Sarah," he paused to swallow, "in my darkest hours you have been there to save me and…" he let go of one hand momentarily to wipe his cheek with his shirt sleeve. "I promise to always be there to save you too, if you'll let me."

He took the ring and slid it onto Sarah's finger. She looked up into his eyes, and leaned in to kiss him but Chuck pulled back. "Not until after your vows," he said laughing through happy tears. "Then comes the kiss-the-bride part."

Sarah smiled nervously. "Okay, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself." Sarah took a deep breath and began in a steady voice. "I, Sarah Walker, take you, Chuck…I mean Charles Irving Bartowski, to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, from this day forward, as long as we both shall live." She paused and bit her lower lip; her eyes shining with unshed tears. "And I promise…" her voice broke and she took a breath to steady herself. "I promise to love you," she tightened her grip on his hands. "And to do my best to trust you totally…" Her eyes flicked to the sky and then back to his. "…even when it's hard for me. Because, Chuck – I've never had anyone in my life love me the way you have loved me. I used to think that if I let you see me, the real me, that you would find that I wasn't worthy of you. And while I still feel that way sometimes you show me everyday that a love like ours is worth sacrificing for. And I promise to spend the rest of my life making you glad that you took a chance on me."

She took the ring out of his hand and slid it onto his ring finger. He smiled as he looked down at the new rings on their clasped hands.

Sarah released her grip and moved her hands up his shoulders and into the hair at the back of his neck. Her face blossomed into a smile so beautiful his heart nearly stopped. Her expression was so full of love, that he was awed that this incredibly wonderful, incredibly complex, compassionate woman had agreed to be his wife.

"Chuck?" Sarah said gently but insistently, "You may kiss the bride."

Chuck broke from his revelry. "Oh, oh yes! I now pronounce us husband and wife." And he bent his face to hers and kissed her.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Chuck looked up from his place on the park bench and saw Charlie and Sarah waving at him. He grinned and waved back. He was relieved, as they walked closer, to see that they were smiling and laughing.

His sighed with satisfaction. This Sarah was just as beautiful to him as was his young bride that day in the courtyard. He thought he loved her then with as much love as it was possible for him to possess. But he was wrong. Their love became sweeter with each passing year. And their love had grown in directions he didn't know were possible because of the son that they shared.

He could hear their voices now, as they walked arm in arm. They were alike in so many ways. And sitting there, watching the two people he loved most in the world, Chuck shuttered to think, that twenty years ago, he had almost lost them both.

* * *

_Again, my many thanks to Sharpasamarble for beta reading this chapter._


	4. Desperate Times

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 4: Desperate Times**

* * *

As Charlie and Sarah approached the Oval Park, Charlie saw the small figure of his dad sitting on a bench by the Stanford "S". "There he is," he said to his mother. They both smiled and waved. Charlie was glad to see his dad again but he was also a little sad that this one-on-one talk with his mom was coming to an end.

Ever since his mother had showed up on his doorstep this morning, so many things Charlie had believed about himself had changed. Charlie thought that he had understood things - how things were and are - but then today, for the first time, he started to see his parents as people - with feelings and a past, rather than just being cookie-cutter mom and dad. He had just heard the mothership of all revelations and he knew more was still coming. At this moment, while he thought of the things his mother and father had told him, he just couldn't figure out how he was supposed to feel. Should he be excited, angry, or sad? He couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Charlie had just learned that his mom and dad had been spies and even more, they had been fugitive spies. His dad had been wanted dead, and his mom apparently turned her back on every thing she ever knew to save him. It was like something out of the pages of a paperback novel. And if it wasn't for that fact that the things he was learning were falling into his memories like missing puzzle pieces, it would have been much harder to believe.

The most unnerving thing to Charlie so far weren't the stories, but the way his parents had been a little different all day, especially his mom. She seemed nervous, fidgety even, and he couldn't remember the last time he had seen her so unlike herself.

He had reached out for her more in the past four hours than he had since he was a kid, before he learned that holding your mom's hand wasn't cool. But now, he wanted to hold her hand, or take her arm, just to show her that whatever it was she had to say it would be fine. He knew she was worried that he would think less of her, finding out she wasn't the person that she had always appeared to be. Nothing could be further than the truth. If anything he loved her more at this moment, than he ever had in his life.

In the past there had always been something keeping him from bonding with his mom the way he had done with his dad. He always felt like he could talk to Chuck about anything from computer games to his first kiss. But Sarah, she was more of an arms-length mom. But now, today, she let him see the real person, right down to the core. And now that he had seen this part of her, he couldn't be more proud to be her son. He was hoping that his supportive looks and proffered arm showed her all the things he didn't feel comfortable saying.

They finally reached where Chuck was sitting, but Chuck didn't look up right away. He sat twirling his ring, lost in thought. Sarah slipped onto the bench next to him and put her hand on his arm "Chuck?"

"Hum?" he said looking up.

"I thought we lost you there for a minute," she teased.

Chuck reddened a bit. "Oh, I was just thinking."

"Seems to be the day for it," Charlie said, sitting casually on the flowerbed curbing. "Mom just gave me enough stuff to keep my mind busy for months. I'm not sure how you guys have carried your history around for so long without talking about it."

"It's not that we didn't want to tell you," Chuck said.

Sarah added, "We just didn't know if there would ever be a right time."

"Don't get me wrong - it's a lot to take in at once," Charlie said, "but I'm glad to be putting some pieces together."

Chuck looked over to Sarah. "So you had a good talk?" he asked, but Charlie saw that the real question he asked with his eyes was, _are you okay?_

Sarah squeezed Chuck's hand, "a great talk." She smiled and Chuck looked relieved.

"Yeah, but I still have a bunch of questions," Charlie said.

'I bet you do," Chuck exclaimed. "Fire away."

"Okay…well," he looked to Chuck, "Mom said that after you two hooked up, she told you everything she did working for the CIA."

"Um hum." Chuck confirmed.

"She said that some of the stuff she told you really ticked you off."

Chuck scratched his head absentmindedly. "Yeah, it did bother me at first."

"I don't know exactly what Mom did." Sarah was about to speak but Charlie held up his hand to silence her. "And I know, Mom, you can't tell me everything. But I can imagine it was pretty intense if you got so upset about it," he turned back to Chuck. "I mean, you are usually really even-keeled."

Sarah looked down at the ground while Chuck nodded. "Yeah, some of it was pretty intense."

Charlie turned to Sarah. "Sorry Mom, is it making you uncomfortable?"' He wondered if he had gone too far.

"No, no, ask your questions. That's why we're here," she assured him.

Charlie continued. "Mom said the CIA had taken away her humanity,"

Chuck looked up questioningly at him. Charlie raised his hands in his defense. "Her words, not mine."

"Okay." Chuck seemed to wonder where this was going.

"Do you think that was true? I mean, I've known mom my whole life and she has always been so great. It's hard for me to understand why she felt that way."

"It was hard for me to understand too, at first." Chuck answered. "When I met your mom I thought she could do anything."

"I was only confident in my work," Sarah added. "It was relationships that I was terrible at." She looked at Charlie as if to drive the point home. "That is one of the highest prices of being an agent. You can't have meaningful relationships."

"You know that neither your mom or me were close to our parents when we worked for the CIA," Chuck added.

Charlie saw his mother tighten her hold on his father's hand. "But Charlie, you're different, you have us. We would never know where you were or if you were okay."

"It's like me and Aunt Ellie, being a spy nearly ruined my relationship with her because I always had to lie about everything. I hated that."

The look of concern on his parents' face cut his heart like a knife. Was he ready to give up regular contact with his them?

"Do you want a family someday, son?" Chuck asked, "A wife and kids?"

Charlie's mind began to race. "I…I've never given it much thought. I mean…I guess I always thought I would have a life like you have."

"That would be impossible if you became an agent," Sarah said bluntly.

Chuck added, "Even before we ran, there was always the threat that at any moment your mom would be reassigned and I would never see her again."

Sarah nodded. "Romantic relationships are highly discouraged in the CIA because emotional attachments are costly. There were a few times I couldn't do my job effectively because of the feelings I had for your father."

"And then there are the things you have to do sometimes on a mission," Chuck looked at Sarah knowingly. "It's hard to see someone you love put themselves in danger."

"And it's hard to see them in the arms of another, even if you know it doesn't mean anything." Sarah captured Chuck's eyes for a moment and held them fast. These were old hurts, ones that they had worked through long ago. Though the memory of them would always linger, their eyes reassured each other, that those things were past.

Charlie hated when they did this. "Earth to parental units," Charlie called, waving his hands. "Come in, parental units."

Sarah looked back to Charlie. "Sorry, what were we saying?"

"You were talking about relationships," Charlie supplied.

"Yes. You asked if your mom had lost her humanity." Chuck considered for a moment. "Look Charlie, I'm not sure what mom told you in your talk. But I'm guessing she made herself out to sound like some sort of monster." He looked over to Sarah apologetically, "Sorry," he said, squeezing her hand. "But you have always been too hard on yourself." He turned back to Charlie. "Your Mom was a great agent. And she did what she had to do to get her job done, even if it was hard for her. The thing about the job is, even though you don't have a choice, you still get the guilt. As an agent you just learn to block it out"

He looked to Sarah but she said nothing. "But still, through it all, Mom was, and still is, the strongest woman I know." Chuck paused for a minute, thinking. "Did she tell you about the day you were born?"

Charlie was surprised by the sudden change of topic. "Um…no, we didn't get that far."

"Well, it's about time you heard it, because it's the perfect example of the kind of metal your mom is made of."

"All right, lay it on me." Charlie could feel the shrubs brushing his lower back, so he shifted his weight trying to find a more comfortable position. He knew this would be another long story.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Sarah," Chuck said quietly after a contraction. She didn't respond. "Sarah," he said a little more urgently. He reached around her and stroked her face. "Sarah, are you with me?"

Sarah sucked in a quick breath. "So tired," she mumbled. "Can't do this much longer."

He turned her face up to him. "You're doing great. Better than great."

"It hurts," she moaned, "It hurts like hell." After eight hours of labor it was the first time she had admitted it.

"I know, Just hang in there a little bit longer. It can't be long now."

She turned her head to glance around the room but Chuck could tell her eyes were not quite focusing. "Where's the midwife?" she asked.

"She isn't here yet. I was just going to go ask about her."

Sarah simply nodded and dropped her face back down to the pillow. She was clearly exhausted and for the first time Chuck seriously thought about what he would do if the midwife never came.

When Chuck woke up this morning, Sarah had already been having contractions for a few hours. He immediately found the owner of the house they were staying in and inquired about a doctor. He was told that the closest doctor was in San Cayetano, two hours away. They did have a midwife in a nearby town, and the owner sent his son up the mountainside to fetch her.

Chuck was just about to go ask again when he heard a surprised yelp.

"Chuck," Sarah gasped, "I think my water broke"

"Okay, lets all stay calm. Holy cow…I have no idea what to do." Chuck ran his hands quickly through his hair. "Okay, we've seen this on TV lots of times…right? First we need towels, clean sheets, that sort of thing." Chuck quickly scanned the room with his eyes. "And water, I need to boil lots of water." Chuck went over to the single burner plate that sat on a table in the corner. "Pot,pot,pot." he babbled, looking through a box of random kitchen gadgets.

"Chuck!" Sarah cried. He refocused on Sarah, she was panting again. "Help me get these off," she said gesturing to his pajama bottoms that she had taken for her own when nothing of hers fit anymore.

Of course, Sarah came first. He helped her undress, and then finding a short stack of towels and one clean sheet in a closet, he arranged her in the middle of the bed, towels under, and the sheet over. Sarah groaned with every shift of her body. A contraction later, Chuck had managed to help her roll to her right side, supported by a pile of pillows. She had her eyes closed and Chuck could tell she was trying to get control of her breathing.

Sarah taken care of for the moment, Chuck turned back to finding the pot. Locating one that looked black, but clean, he sprinted to the bathroom to fill it, and then returned and put it to warm on the little burner. Hopefully the electricity would hold out.

"Agh!" Sarah yelled out. "Chuck!"

He rushed back to her side. She reached out and took his hand and squeezed it, hard. "The contractions aren't stopping!" she cried. "It's like they're just one after another." She laid her head back against her pillow. "My back, it's like it's on fire." She groaned again, breathing heavily.

Chuck pried her fingers off his hand and started to rub her back for the hundredth time that morning. His arms ached but knew better then to say anything.

"Chuck, I don't think I can do this….. it's too hard….agh." She clutched at her stomach again. "I can't…"

"Sarah," he moved her damp hair from her face. "You're doing great, the midwife is going to be here any minute and you are going to have this baby and he or she is going to be perfect. Everything is going to be fine."

She reached around and grabbed his shirt collar, yanking his face down to hers. Her eyes were blue steel. "Everything is not fine," she spat between heaving breaths. "We are in some godforsaken place that isn't even on the map and I am about to have a baby, with no hospital, no doctor, nothing…." She took a moment to breathe, but didn't release her grip on Chuck. "This is hell." She released him and collapsed, exhausted, but still the contractions did not stop.

Chuck heard the water on the burner hiss and steam as it overflowed the pot and got up to turn down the heat. He looked down at the water, not knowing what he needed it for, but feeling somewhat more prepared.

His attention snapped back to Sarah when he heard her sharp intake of breath. "Oh, no," she said, her hands twisting the sheets around her. "It's coming!"

"What?! No. no, no, no, no" Chuck said, "You have to wait. The midwife isn't here."

"You think I can stop this?" she bellowed, "My body is on auto pilot." She tensed her face and raised her chin up slightly. "Awgh! I need to push."

"Now, Sarah, are you sure you need to push now, because now is not a good time," Chuck panicked.

"Chuck!" her face screwed up with exertion

"Okay, okay. We can do this. We can." He rubbed his hands together. "It's all mother nature right? With the next contraction you'll push, okay?"

Sarah nodded meekly and on the next contraction Sarah, pushed, and she pushed with the next and she kept pushing with every contraction. When Chuck saw that the baby wasn't immediately forthcoming he sat behind her, supporting her back, and offering his fingers to her vice grip. After what seemed liked an eternity, she collapsed exhausted against his chest, perspiration pouring down her face. There was still no sign of the baby. "What if something's wrong?" she mumbled.

Chuck was tired too, and emotionally spent, but he had to be strong for her. "Sarah, baby, you can do this." He took the edge of the sheet and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her face was ashen. "You have to keep pushing."

"I will, I will…but I need to rest… so tired," she mouthed, nearly voicelessly, "so much pain." Her eyes rolled up and her lids closed.

"Sarah!" Chuck said in alarm. "Sarah! Stay with me, now." He patted her cheek with his hand. "You've got to stay with me!" He could feel her body, tensing and rolling with another contraction, but Sarah didn't push, she just breathed, slowly, labored.

"Oh God!" Chuck prayed, glancing up towards the ceiling. "What do I do now?"

He paused for a minute, listening only to the low moaning of his wife. And then with a flash of inspiration he disengaged himself from her. His movement startled Sarah and her eyes fluttered open.

"Stay awake, Sarah. You're going to get through this. I'm going to go get some help." Sarah licked her lips and nodded. He helped move her so that her back was once again resting against the headboard. "I'll be right back."

Chuck sprinted down the dusty path from their room in search for the owner again. The sun was high in the sky; the midwife should have arrived by now. He pounded on the door of the little house. Chuck was relieved when the man opened the door.

"Gracias a Dios! Senor, is the midwife coming? We need the midwife."

The man smiled a knowing smile. "Yes, she will be here very soon."

"How soon is very soon? My wife is not doing well," Chuck said, his voice clearly straining to stay calm.

"No se. Can I help you?"

He knew it was a long shot, but just needed to ask. "You don't happen to have a phone? Un telefono?" Chuck held up his hand to his ear, pinky and thumb extended.

The man's eyes sparkled. "Un telefono? Yes, yes," and he disappeared into the darkness of his house.

Chuck couldn't believe his luck. A telephone was just what he needed. A moment later the man returned and handed him a larger sized hand unit. Chuck looked down at what looked like a satellite phone. It was an older model, but appeared to be fully charged and ready to use. Chuck looked back up to the man, amazed.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "I have brother in Pittsburgh."

Chuck turned back to his room, dialing the numbers as he went. He just hoped she still had the same cell number. As he dialed, he thought of his wife, laboring in the room. He was putting them in danger, he knew that. But he had to save Sarah, and this was all he could think to do.

Chuck stood outside the door, waiting for the phone to connect. After a few moments of clicking and then a ring, he heard the voice that he hadn't heard in almost a year.

"Hello?"

"Ellie! Thank God!"

"Chuck! Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me El…" Chuck held the phone away from his head to save his ear drum from her shriek.

"Chuck, you're alive! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Ellie, Ellie, I can't tell you, I don't have time. I need your help, Sarah's in trouble."

"Sarah!? What's wrong."

"She's having a baby El…OUR baby." He held the phone away from his ear again.

"It's been hours but the baby hasn't come and Sarah is exhausted."

Chuck went on explaining what had happened with the labor as he entered the room. Sarah looked at him with glassy eyes that suddenly sharpened when she saw him with the telephone.

"Who are you talking to Chuck?" she growled.

Chuck put the phone to his chest, "Someone who can help us."

"Hang up….Agh!" Sarah clutched the sheets around her.

"Ellie says to wait for the contraction and then to push." Chuck reported.

"Ellie!? Chuck, hang up right now. They will find us."

Chuck didn't answer but continued to give Ellie information over the phone.

After a moment, Chuck nodding to himself he said, "I need to check to see if the baby is coming." Chuck put down the phone and washed his hands in the hot water he had boiled on the stove, until his flesh was bright red. When he got close to Sarah she reached out and grabbed his hand, but her grip was weak.

"You are going to get us killed Chuck, if you don't hang up the phone," she said, eyes wide.

"I don't know what else to do Sarah!" he said pleading. "And I will not lose you!" he pulled his hand from her grip and moved to check Sarah's progress. Once finished he picked up the phone again.

"I can feel the babies head with the tips of my fingers, but I can't see it….yes, over an hour now."

Ellie's voice crackled on the other end of the line and Chuck nodded his head as he received her instructions.

"Chuck!" Sarah cried.

"Ellie – I've got to go….I'll call you back if I need to…. I love you too….and I'm fine, don't worry." Chuck pushed the button to end the call and tossed the phone on the table.

"We've got to get you up. Ellie says to try doggy style."

Sarah's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Chuck had already started to roll her. "We've got to get you up on all fours. Ellie says that the baby is probably posterior and this should help you push better and take the pain off your back."

Sarah gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and then started to crawl up on her hands and knees. Though she trembled, Chuck hardly needed to help her. _Where did she find that inner core of strength after all these hours?_ Chuck wondered.

"Here comes another one!" Sarah warned and Chuck held her, to give her all the support he could. "Oh God!" she moaned, "I can feel it moving."

Chuck bent over to look and sure enough, he could see a little sliver of pink head at the peak of the contraction. "It's almost here Sarah, just one or two more!" he said excitedly.

Sarah seemed to have new energy and with determination, she gripped the headboard and braced herself for the next few contractions. Chuck took his place on the receiving end with a clean towel. Four contractions later, a very blue and bloody baby slid face-up into the world.

"It's a boy!" Chuck declared, wrapping the baby in a towel. But panic soon over took him. "Sarah, he's not breathing!"

Sarah had collapsed and rolled with some difficulty, avoiding the cord. "Clear his mouth of fluids," she said anxiously. "Turn him upside down if you have too."

Chuck swept the baby's mouth with his finger. A few tense seconds later, the infant let out a strong wail. Chuck laughed as relief washed over him. "He's beautiful…perfect!" he looked up at Sarah, "just like his mother."

Sarah smiled and reached out her arms for the child. Just as Chuck slid the pink wriggling baby onto Sarah's bare chest he heard a knock at the door.

"Partera!" called a woman's voice.

/////////////////////////////////////////

"Patera?" Charlie asked.

"The midwife," Chuck supplied.

"So the midwife showed up right after I was born? What lousy timing."

"Not really," Sarah said, "There was still the afterbirth, and I had no idea how to nurse a baby, not to mention the mess…"

Charlie raised his hands "Okay, okay, mom…ew! TMI, I do not want all those details."

Chuck looked surprised "You must deal with this stuff all the time in your job."

"Yeah, but this is mom we're talking about," Charlie shrugged.

Ignoring his comment Sarah spoke up. "Gross or not, I'll be forever grateful to that midwife. She was able to get me back on my feet much faster then I would have been able to do otherwise."

Chuck nodded. "It was good that mom is a fast healer and you were a healthy baby because we only dared wait a day before we started to run again."

"The phone call?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," Chuck acknowledged, "Mom was right. The phone call led them right to us."

* * *

_Many thanks to my great beta Sharpasamarble, whom I tried to ignore as much as possible._


	5. An Expensive Commodity

**Revelations **

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 5: An Expensive Commodity**

**

* * *

**When a few of Charlie's friends showed up at the park to play some volleyball, they said they needed a sixth and invited him to join. Charlie declined at first but Chuck and Sarah insisted that he should play. Charlie promised to only play for a few minutes, but it had almost been a half hour. Sarah didn't mind. She was sure he could use a break to think about everything they had told him. It was a lot for anyone to assimilate in one day.

Charlie was a good player, aggressive but not overly so. Sarah knew that it was his way to put all of himself into everything he did. As if to prove her right, he dove for the ball and ate the grass on the very next play. He reminded her of herself, when she was a rookie in the CIA; she was so eager to do her best that she had thrown herself into her work one hundred and ten percent.

As she watched Sarah noticed a girl on Charlie's team, pretty, but a little young. Sarah could tell that she had a thing for her son. It wasn't obvious at all, but she caught more then one sideways glance sent Charlie's way. She should know, she remembered doing the same thing at one time.

"He's a pretty great kid isn't he?" Chuck said, watching Charlie serve a wild ball into the net. Sarah murmured her agreement.

When the game ended and Charlie returned to where his parents sat, he was glistening with sweat but looked happy.

"Hey Mom, can I have the rest of that?" he asked, pointing to her soda.

She handed it over willingly. He pulled off the top and drank the last of it, crunching on the ice.

"So, who's that girl over there? The one that played on your team?" Sarah asked.

"Who?" Charlie asked looking in the direction that Sarah indicated. "Oh, one of Brian's friends, Katie or Kaitlin or something."

"She's cute," Chuck approved.

Charlie narrowed his eyes appraisingly, "Yeah, I guess she is."

"You should ask her out."

"Da-ha-d" Charlie moaned.

Chuck held up his hands. "Just giving you a little fatherly advice."

"So let's get back to the topic," Charlie said a little too eagerly, "I had just made my grand entrance into the world and you guys were on the run again."

"That's right," Sarah said, "First we had to go through all our undercover protocols." She noticed that Charlie looked confused. "You know, sold our car, changed our appearances, made new IDs, that kind of thing."

"This time I bought this great VW Dasher," Chuck added.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "It was ugly."

"It was great! The perfect car for our growing family; just like the one they used in Starman." Chuck nodded his head towards Sarah, "But you know mom, she doesn't like to drive anything under eight cylinders."

Sarah bumped into him playfully, "Whatever. Can we just get on with it?" Chuck held up his hand to indicate for her to continue.

"I was pretty sure we were being followed, so we tried to keep a low profile as much as we could. One night we found this little stone building…"

"It was a shepherd's hut – the thing stunk," Chuck added.

Sarah nodded her agreement, "but it was empty and dry and I was glad to have a night of not sleeping in the car. That morning, when I walked into town for some supplies, I didn't know I was walking into trouble…"

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The little market was alive with sellers, beggars and street musicians, all clamoring for the buyer's attention. The morning air was full of the smell of fish, roasting meat and human sweat and it turned Sarah's stomach. She glanced down at the basket she was carrying. It was nearly full with fresh fruit, canned goods and a couple of cans of American made baby formula she had paid top price for. She spotted a clothing vender and hoped to find something new that would fit her. When she turned her back towards the crowds to look at the wares, Sarah felt the blunt nub of a gun in her lower back. She froze.

"Let's go for a walk," a male voice growled in her ear. Because she couldn't turn to get a good look at him, when she walked past the stalls of street venders she only could gain a sense of the man at her back. He had an American accent, was about her height, and had a beard and dark glasses. Her eyes darted about, taking in the open-air marketplace as they walked, to see if her assailant had friends.

"The alley to your right," he instructed, poking the gun in her back to remind her exactly why she should obey. She did as she was told; cursing the fact that having given birth only two weeks before, she doubted she could win in a hand-to-hand fight.

Once in the back street she saw it was a dead end. "Put down the basket – slowly – don't turn around." He kept his voice gruff. She did as he said. "Good, now put your hands up on the wall." She saw him step to her right, this was her chance. She couldn't manage much height on a kick, but she was pretty sure she could at least reach the gun. She gritted her teeth and shifted her weight preparing for the attack. "Don't even try it, Sarah," he warned, the voice suddenly clear. She froze in place. "You did always give away your next move."

She knew that voice. "Bryce?" she breathed.

"Keep your hands on the wall." He moved closer, placed his left foot between her legs, and pressed himself slightly against her back. His hands moved up and down her, patting down her shirt and pants. He pulled her gun from her waistband. "Hold still or I will shoot you," he said as he bent down and pulled up her pant leg, deftly releasing the sheath of throwing knives she hid there. "Okay, let's go inside here and have a little talk." Bryce grabbed her right arm, clicked on a handcuff and twisted her wrist painfully behind her back, and then took her other hand and locked it in the cuff. Thus restrained, Bryce pushed her through a door at the end of the alleyway.

In the room, Sarah saw only darkness, until Bryce pulled the chain on a single bulb illuminating what looked like a storage space. He pushed her onto an overturned crate, and then with the gun pointed to her head he secured her feet to a slat with a plastic zip tie. With a second tie he cinched her cuffs to the back of the crate as well. She was in essence, hog tied.

Sarah kept her face a mask. At least it was her and not Chuck, she thought. Chuck should know when she didn't return by their agreed time to put their escape plans into play. Even if she was caught, he and little Charlie would still be free.

"You're losing your touch, Sarah. That was too easy." Bryce removed his sun glasses and looked her over. "I almost didn't recognize you. The short brown hair I've seen, but you've gotten soft. You've gained what, twenty pounds since I saw you last?" he smirked. "Isn't that taking a cover a bit too far?"

Sarah clenched her jaw. Her "softness" was mother natures doing, not hers.

"Not to say the added weight doesn't look good on you," he said looking her over, his eyes lingering a little too long on her chest. It made her feel dirty. "I don't mind a girl with a little shape."

"Shove it, Bryce," she spat and then immediately clamped her mouth shut. He was goading her, and she was falling for it.

Bryce chuckled. "It's good to see you again too, Sarah. It's been too long." He sat down on a box opposite her and twirled his gun between his hands. "So…it seems you've kidnapped the US government's most important security asset; and you've managed to avoid the biggest agency manhunt of all time." Sarah said nothing. "The Director's furious, of course. But I'm not surprised, because I know you're the best. If Sarah Walker doesn't want to be found, she won't be." He smiled again. "Well, at least not until now."

Sarah looked away, not wanting her anger to get the best of her.

"Now, what I don't understand is - why you did it. You were the last person I thought would go rogue."

"I guess you don't know me as well as you thought," she hissed. Damn hormones.

"I guess not. But there is one thing that's troubling me." The cocky edge had left his voice. "Why Fulcrum, Sarah, after all they've done to us?"

Her eyes snapped back to his. "Fulcrum? You think I'm Fulcrum?" She laughed bitterly.

"Aren't you?" he accused. "You two have probably been feeding them information all along."

"Your spy work is sloppy," she answered coolly.

"Don't you even care?" His voice raised a notch. "I thought you wanted to keep Chuck safe. I don't care what they've promised you, you'll never be safe working for them. I should know."

"I'm not sure where you're getting your information Bryce, but you are way off base. I told you, we're not Fulcrum."

He put the gun down on the box next to him. "Well, I didn't expect you to admit it. But I had hoped I could talk some sense into you before I took you in. So where is he, Sarah?" he asked.

She wanted to drag this out and give Chuck as much of a head start as he could get. "Who?"

"Chuck. You remember – likable, tall, dark curly hair. The innocent guy you gave over to Fulcrum; seduced him probably, into going rogue with you." He rose to his feet and pointed the gun to her chest "And now you are going to tell me where he is."

"Don't you know?" she taunted. "You're the spy."

Bryce gritted his teeth. "I lost you guys in the dark last night. But I gambled that you would need supplies, so I hid out in town. And I was right."

"Why not just follow me back to Chuck?"

"You're too good to be followed on foot. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you first. After all that we've...been through, I thought I deserved some answers."

"You've got them."

"I've got crap, Sarah."

"I gave you the answer. I'm not Fulcrum, Bryce." She looked him in the eye, willing him to believe her.

"Now that's interesting, Sarah, because I doubted it myself at first. That was until I saw your little friends in town today - now you can't tell me that was just a coincidence."

Sarah's breath caught in her chest. "You saw Fulcrum agents in Los Lindas? Today?"

"Don't act so surprised. Now where's Chuck?"

Sarah thought of Chuck and Charlie resting in the empty shepherd's hut where they had spent the night. Just because Bryce didn't know where Chuck was, didn't mean that Fulcrum didn't. She had left her husband and child in danger.

"Oh my God - Chuck."

"Where is he?"

"You have to let me go. Now!" She yanked on her restraints but they held her fast.

"Now why would I do that?

"Because we haven't seen Fulcrum in a year and the day you show up, they show up too. You led Fulcrum right to us!"

"Calm down. If you're not Fulcrum, why did you run?"

"It was the only way to protect Chuck."

"Isn't that what you were doing in LA?"

"Not from Fulcrum, from the NSA, they ordered Chuck's death."

"The NSA? When they called me in they said they had intel that Fulcrum had gotten the Intersect."

"You know me better then that, Bryce. You know I would never betray my country." Bryce looked at her skeptically. She knew that exposing the true nature of her feelings might give Bryce an advantage. "I'm protecting a citizen from an unconstitutional execution."

Bryce smirked. "That's quite a line, Sarah, have you been practicing that one?"

"Bryce, I'd be happy to discuss patriotism with you later but right now Fulcrum is out there and Chuck is in danger." She sat up as straight as she could and narrowed her eyes. "Let me go Bryce. Now!"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"He let you go just like that?" Charlie asked.

"Not exactly. I agreed to take him to your dad. It was a gamble, I knew. But if your dad followed the plan he should have been gone by then. If not, I figured between your father and I we could take him."

"When your mom didn't come back on time I started to get nervous. You were sleeping so I loaded you into the car seat. Just as I was loading the last of our things in the Dasher, I heard something. You mom and I had a signal we gave out to one another so when I didn't hear the signal I hid."

"When Bryce and I came up to the hut I saw the car was still there, parked behind the hut, so either your dad had been taken by Fulcrum or we were about to have to fight Bryce."

"So which was it?" Charlie asked.

Chuck leaned forward. "Neither, your old man still had a few tricks left up his sleeve..."

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From where Chuck was standing, behing the wall of the dilapidated stone building, he could see that that Sarah was handcuffed; a man had one hand on her cuffs and one hand on a gun to her back. Chuck stuck his head around the wall and took aim with a rifle.

He clicked back the action. "Hold it right there," he shouted

The man and Sarah stopped. "Hello Chuck," Bryce called out, "It's been a long time."

Could it be? "Bryce?" Put temporarily off tilt by his old friend's appearance, Chuck quickly tried to refocus. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to get you, buddy. There's a lot of people worried about you, Chuck."

"Oh, I bet," Chuck scoffed. "People who want to help me, like you did? You all want me dead."

"That's not true; we just want the Intersect back." Bryce pushed Sarah forward.

"I said stop right there, Bryce, or I'll kill you." Chuck's voice was deadly serious.

Bryce laughed. "You won't shoot me, Chuck. Don't forget, I know you," he said casually.

Chuck took aim and squeezed off a shot. True to target the shot sent dust up right at Bryce's feet. It was all the distraction Sarah needed; she spun and kicked the gun from Bryce's hand. Chuck rushed forward and pointed the rifle at his old friend. "Don't test me Bryce; don't forget, I know you too, so I've been practicing."

Chuck's dark gaze must have been convincing enough because Bryce raised his hands in the air.

"Let Sarah go," Chuck ordered. Bryce reluctantly unlocked Sarah's handcuffs. Sarah quickly picked up Bryce's dropped weapon.

"Is the package secured?" she asked Chuck, her eyes anxious.

"Yes, the package is secured in the car."

Sarah nodded.

Chuck looked back to Bryce. "Now why don't we all have a little talk. I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

But before Bryce could respond, Chuck heard a loud pop and was knocked off his feet. At first he thought he had been hit by a car, because of the force at which his legs flew out from under him. Everything went into slow motion, the look on Bryce's face, and Sarah raising her gun. As he impacted the ground it felt as if a bomb had exploded in his leg and everything went blurry.

"Chuck!" He felt Sarah at his side.

"Get to cover!" Bryce yelled, and Chuck felt himself get dragged. He looked down to see his shoes making marks in the dirt and was relieved to see his leg still attached. Second and third shots rang out and glanced off the stone wall.

Chuck's leg felt like it was on fire. Sarah started to cut through Chuck's pants with a knife.

Bryce slammed the door shut. "Who the hell are they?"

"Fulcrum! Who do you think?" Sarah yelled. She took a look at the wound and then turned his leg painfully. "It went clear through, you're lucky."

"Lucky? I don't feel lucky," Chuck croaked.

Bryce covered his head as another shot shattered part of the window. "Fulcrum? Why would they be shooting at you?"

Sarah growled, frustration oozing from her voice. "You are so pig-headed sometimes. I told you, we are not Fulcrum! Chuck is wanted dead by the US government – it is them we are running from."

Bryce's eyes widened. The reality of the situation had finally sunk in. "Well, give me a gun then."

Sarah looked at him with a skeptical expression. Bryce reached out his empty hand, in gesture towards her. Another shot ricocheted off the stones and she immediately covered Chuck with her own body, causing Chuck to moan, as she jostled his leg. He saw her eyes flick down to his bleeding leg and then up to the back wall. On the other side of that wall was their son. She closed her eyes momentarily and then passed her gun into Bryce's waiting hand.

He smiled at her, a cocky half smile, and then he turned to the window and squeezed off a shot. Chuck watched as Sarah took the cloth from his pants and wrapped it around his wound, pulling it tight.

"That will slow down the bleeding," she assured him.

As Chuck's head cleared he could only think of one thing. "Sarah, we have to get to the car."

"I know. Luckily the car is behind us. It isn't in the cross fire."

"But still…"

"I know. Safety of the package is our top priority." She glanced quickly around the room. "Chuck, are you okay to lay down some cover fire?"

Chuck felt like he was going to faint, but gritted his teeth. "Yeah, totally."

Sarah handed him the rifle. "Then do it. I'll get to the car and get the package. The rest of our weapons are there?"

Chuck nodded.

"That's our best bet then," she said.

As she turned to go Chuck grabbed her shirt front and pulled her close to him. He whispered thickly in her ear, "Sarah, I want you to take Charlie and go. Drive away! I'll be okay."

Sarah pulled back and looked at him with serious eyes. "You know I can't do that. We're in this together. That was our deal.

"Bryce!" Sarah called out over the gun fire. "I have to get to the car. You and Chuck lay down cover for me."

Bryce turned to look at her. "What in the car could be so important?! That's a suicide mission!"

"How much ammo you got?" she asked.

Bryce looked. "About half a clip."

"We've got a whole arsenal in the car, I just have to get to it. I'll be back."

Bryce yanked her by the arm. "I'll go," he said.

"No," she said adamantly. "You have to stay here and protect Chuck. Remember, he is an invaluable government asset." They stared at each other for a moment and when Sarah didn't back down Bryce's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Then take this." Bryce pulled his t-shirt over his head revealing a lightweight Kevlar vest. He pulled off the vest and handed it to Sarah.

"Thanks." She took a second to put on the vest. She held up her fingers as a countdown and Chuck and Bryce took positions, Bryce at the door, Chuck at the window. When Sarah reached one, Bryce pulled the door open and took a few shots, Chuck fired out the window and Sarah disappeared out the door.

/////////////////////////////////////////////

"You ran out into gunfire to save me?" Charlie asked reverently.

Sarah smiled shyly, "You're my baby, I'd do anything for you."

Charlie's face turned up into a goofy grin and Sarah suddenly found a wrinkle in her shirt that she tried to smooth.

"So meanwhile," Chuck went on, "your dad was bleeding, holed up in a stinky stone hut, shooting at bad men hiding in the trees who were trying to kill him."

"Yeah, Dad, cool," Charlie said, turning his smile towards him. "So did you get them?"

"Bryce got one. We heard him scream and fall; but we lost the other one. Your mom ended up taking him out."

Chuck had chosen to skim over that last part and Sarah didn't feeling like expounding. Charlie didn't need to know every detail. But she remembered every person she had ever had to kill. She could see every face with perfect clarity…

//////////////////////////////////////////////////

When Sarah made it to the back side of the hut without being shot she was relieved. She crouched low, pressing her back against the rough stones. She could hear little Charlie's pitiful cries now though the open windows of the Dasher and it made her ach even more with worry. As she stealthily made her way around to the side of the car, what she saw made her heart skip a beat. A man, the Fulcrum agent, was crouching there with the car door open, his gun pointed inside the car. She could only guess that he had heard the crying and had circled around to investigate.

"Come here little junior," she heard the man say in a sing song voice. "Come to Uncle Pedro."

She saw him reach his arms out to take up the baby seat and something inside her snapped. Like a lioness protecting her cub she leapt forward and tackled the man before he reached the baby. The impact sent the man's gun flying across the dirt and they scuffled. Sarah turned her elbows and struck the man hard across the face. He wriggled in pain and Sarah launched herself across the turf to reach the gun. He had her by the legs but she was still able to snatch up the weapon with just the tips of her fingers. She immediately pointed it at the man and fired. The first shot hit him in the head, the second in the chest. Scrambling to her feet, Sarah stood over him and continued firing. Her heart was racing wildly, her hands trembled and somewhere in her hazy mind she could hear the click, click, click of the empty cartridge, as she pulled the trigger again and again.

She felt a gentle hand cover hers and pull the weapon from her hands. Bryce spoke, just a bit louder then a whisper, "I think you got him." She lowered her hands and wiped them on the front of her vest. Turning without a second look at the body of the Fulcrum agent she stepped toward the car. Chuck was there, leaning heavily against it, he was scooping up their special "package" into his arms. The infant quieted immediately. He held out the baby to Sarah, but she declined. She couldn't hold him just yet - she had to wash her hands first.

"What do we have here?" Bryce asked curiously.

Chuck spoke without looking up from the baby's face. "Bryce, I want you to meet Charlie – our son."

Bryce quickly looked at Sarah, and then back to Chuck. "Your son?!"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Shaking the images from her mind, Sarah refocused on what Chuck was saying. "…and then Bryce agreed to tell the CIA it was a false lead."

"And did you believe him? Did he keep his word?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I believed him," Sarah said.

Chuck looked at her incredulously. "Sarah, you cold-cocked the guy!"

Sarah kept her face straight but her eyes twinkled. "I said that I believed him, not that I trusted him."

Charlie furrowed his brow. "What's the difference?"

Sarah sighed. "Trust is an expensive commodity in the spy word that you can't afford. You can believe that people are on your side, that they are looking out for you, but the truth is that you can never know for sure."

"So what about in this case? Did this Bryce guy keep his word?" Charlie asked.

"We didn't wait around to find out. That same day we were on the road again." Chuck said.

Charlie frowned. "But you know now, don't you?"

"Yeah," Sarah said wrinkling her nose at Charlie, "but right now you stink." Sarah stood and dusted off her pants, "and I'd like to go out to dinner some time tonight."

Chuck and Charlie stood and the two men followed Sarah towards the parking lot. Chuck slapped Charlie on the back. "Don't worry, Charlie," he said in his ear, "it's all part of the next story."

_

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_As always, special thanks to my beta __**Sharpasamarble**__, for his unfailing good advice. Also, thanks to everyone who has taken time to read and review. The people in this community are truly a pleasure to associate with._


	6. A Promise Broken

**Revelations**

**by: MySoapBox**

**Chapter 6: A Promise Broken**

* * *

Chuck and Sarah were left alone in Charlie's messy living room while their son cleaned up for dinner. Chuck hadn't been here since they helped him move out of his old apartment last fall. Even with all the stacks of boxes, it had been a lot cleaner then. Sarah was straightening up; mostly tossing things in the trash from what Chuck could see. She always had liked things neat and uncluttered.

As soon as he heard the shower turn on Sarah asked, "How do you think its going?"

"Good, I think." He shrugged his shoulders. "I know this sort of thing is never easy for you."

As he watched her fold an old pizza box and toss it in the garbage can, he said, "For what it's worth, I think you're doing great. And Charlie… he seems to be taking it better than I could have expected."

"He is resilient," Sarah said, "always has been. I think he gets that from you."

"No, I that's all you. You were always the one with the survival skills," he shot back. She turned to look at him and smiled.

As he moved around the room, Chuck noticed Charlie's Kung Fu trophy in the corner. Sarah must have caught him looking at it. "You know, I think the CIA was there that day."

"Where? At the state tournament?"

"Yes, I'm almost sure of it now. Maybe the CIA has been watching him all along."

Chuck rubbed the dust off Charlie's name plaque with his thumb. "I suppose it's possible, knowing those people." He paused before asking the question that had been in the back of his mind all day. "Sarah, do you think that he might have my…you know…special talent?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know."

"But if he can, you know, flash, couldn't they use him? Use him the same way they used me?"

"Yeah, I suppose they could. But, as far as I know, the human intersect project was closed down years ago."

"I mothballed it myself," he agreed. Chuck felt a knot in his stomach. Just because a program was terminated doesn't mean it couldn't be reinstated. He could see from the way Sarah glanced away just now that she had the same thought.

She put her hand on his chest. "Regardless, that's why we're doing this, right? So Charlie knows what he would be getting into?"

Chuck pulled her into his arms, naturally, lovingly. "Absolutely."

He felt her slide her arms around him in response, and he took comfort in her familiar embrace. As he felt her sigh against his chest, he ran his hands up and down her back to comfort her. He closed his eyes and let himself get lost in her smell and the way she felt against him. It was the familiar feeling of home.

"Hey!" Charlie called from where he entered the room, "none of that!" Chuck and Sarah broke apart. "No PDA in your kid's apartment. That's just...wrong."

Chuck chuckled as Sarah looked at her watch. "It looks like we still have an hour until our reservations." She looked to Charlie, "And when do you have to be at the fire station?"

"My shift starts at seven."

Chuck nodded. "Good. That should give us enough time."

Charlie sat down on the sofa and looked around. "Hey! Thanks for picking up! Now we can all sit down at once."

"Imagine that," Sarah deadpanned.

"So, you said we had some time, can you tell me what happened next? What happened after mom clobbered that CIA guy?"

"I wouldn't say 'clobbered'," Sarah argued.

"I would," Chuck replied.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Can I just tell the story?"

Chuck gestured for her to begin.

"We decided to change tactics. Rather then hiding out in the countryside we started hiding in the big cities."

Chuck ticked them off on his fingers. "Managua, Tegucigalpa, Guatemala City. We even got as far south as Caracas and Medellin."

"Wow, you hit all the hottest tourist spots. You were quite the world travelers."

"We had to be," Sarah answered. "We never knew how close they were to finding us; we had to keep moving."

"We'd stay in one place a few weeks or a month and try to find work," Chuck explained.

"At this point our cash reserves were basically gone-"

"And babies need a lot of stuff," Chuck interrupted. "I can't believe how many diapers you went through."

"What did you do?" Charlie asked. "For jobs, I mean."

"Whatever we could find," Sarah answered. "I did secretary jobs, waitressing; I was even a personal trainer for awhile."

"And I worked as a store clerk, kitchen help and a few lucky times I found some temporary work fixing computers. It felt good working with computers again."

"So no more run-ins with the CIA? That Bryce guy kept his promise?"

Sarah's face darkened. "We don't know for sure, but we think so."

"Only think?" Charlie asked.

"We never saw him again. I heard that he was killed not long after his encounter with us, but with the CIA, you never really know for certain," Sarah said sadly.

Chuck wrung his hands. "But Bryce keeping his promise isn't the only explanation. Around this same time there were quite a few…terrorist bombings. It could be that the CIA pulled all their resources to work on that." Chuck knew that the CIA was in a full out war with Fulcrum but he couldn't share that with Charlie.

"So what happened then? It sounds like you guys were getting along okay."

"We had a run-in here and there, but they were mostly incidental," Sarah said.

"What do you mean, like you bumped into government agents accidently? Are there really that many out there?" Charlie asked.

"You'd be surprised," Chuck answered, "and with all the information I had in my head, we ran into the unexpected more then once…."

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Chuck was working at a small table in a back room; computer parts were sitting around on shelves and in heaps on the floor. He had been fortunate enough to pick up some piecework at this little computer repair shop in an industrial part of the city. It was low profile; the owner didn't ask any questions and it put food on the table. As he worked on installing a DVD ROM drive, he listened to a TV blare in the corner of the shop. The reporter was talking about a series of terrorist attacks that had occurred in the US over the past several months. Chuck knew it was evidence that Fulcrum was winning the battle against the government and for a minute he thought of Casey and he wondered what he was doing and if he was okay.

A jingle of the bells on the front door took his attention away from the television. The owner of the shop was working at the front counter.

"Excuse me?" he heard in English.

"Hola" he heard the owner say, ¿Cómo puedo ayudarle?

"Necesito un…damn," the customer muttered, "Do you speak English?"

There was a pause and then Chuck heard the owner's footsteps.

"Rafel!" he called. That was the name on the ID Chuck was using at the moment. He found it easier if he chose names that he could easily recognize and he liked the idea of being a Ninja Turtle. "¿Habla Inglés?

Chuck cleared is throat. "Yes, a little," he said in as thick an accent as he could manage.

The manager smiled and beckoned him to come to the front counter. Chuck put down his screwdriver and followed.

As soon as he turned the corner and saw the customer, a tall man in his 30's, Chuck felt that familiar sensation of dizziness and nausea.

*A palm tree * a DEA name badge * a police dog on a leash * a surfer * a pile of seized cocaine bundles * a LAR-15 rifle * a palm tree*

Chuck raised his eyebrows and blinked his eyes, to disguise what had just happened. The man standing in front of him didn't seem to notice anything. Fighting down his fight or flight instincts, Chuck looked down and tried not to make eye contact.

"Um…How can I help you?" he asked, continuing in the same accent he had used with the store owner.

"You see this?" the man said loudly, holding up an older model of Blackberry, "I need a charger. A CHAR-GER," the man said even louder, waving the Blackberry and pointing to the spot where the charger would attach.

"Oh yes!" Chuck said looking at the floor, "a charger. Un momentito."

Chuck went back to the back room and after sifting through inventory boxes, found the replacement charger the man wanted.

He returned to the front, put the charger box on the counter and the owner started ringing up the sale.

As he turned to go the agent said, "Hey, do I know you?"

Chuck turned half way and smiled innocently, "I do not think so."

The man squinted at him, "You look familiar somehow; I just can't place it."

"It must be my good looking face, yes?" Chuck responded laughing and turned and walked away.

"I guess so," Chuck heard the agent mutter.

Once in the back room, Chuck quickly walked out the back door of the shop and into the alleyway. Staying in the shadows he watched the DEA agent exit the store, charger in hand, get into a black sedan and pull away. Chuck sighed in relief. The agent hadn't made a phone call; he hadn't even taken a second look at the store front. Chuck's cover was probably safe.

As Chuck sat back down at the little table, he shook his head and leaned in over his work. He would not tell Sarah what had happened, he decided. He knew Sarah would want to move again, and frankly, Chuck was sick of running. He was sick of changing names and apartments and accents. And more importantly, he didn't want to uproot Charlie when the little guy had just started sleeping through the night again for the first time since moving here. No, he thought as he picked up his small screwdriver, Sarah didn't need to know at all.

But as he worked, a feeling of anxiety overtook him. Last night had been little Charlie's first birthday. They had gone to a restaurant across town and when the staff had learned about the special occasion they had sung to him. Charlie bounced in the high chair and clapped his hands to the music. He had even been a good sport when the waitress put a funny birthday hat on his head and snapped a Polaroid for Chuck and Sarah to keep. Sarah had destroyed the picture as soon as they got home. It was one of the rules: pictures were not allowed. So Chuck concentrated extra hard during those blissful family moments, so he could at least have the picture of them in his mind always.

Chuck stood so fast that his chair went clattering to the floor. What was he doing? He had been recognized by a DEA agent and through his own selfishness he was putting the people he loved most in jeopardy. It wasn't worth the risk. He tossed down his screwdriver, grabbed his lunch bag and headed out the back door.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

There was silence for a moment and Chuck caught Sarah's eye. A little nod of her head told him to continue. "Charlie, the truth is our life on the run was…well, it was a mess really."

"I wouldn't say it was a mess," Sarah said glancing over at Chuck. "We were happy, we had good times, but your father and I knew that it wasn't the life we wanted."

"The first year after you were born went alright…you know…all things considered. You were just a baby, so it didn't matter that we were moving from place to place. But as you got older, walking, talking, it got tougher," Chuck said.

"We had to be careful. We didn't let you outside much; you weren't allowed to play with other children. You hated it," Sarah explained.

"It was miserable having to keep you locked down. It was like we were living in our own self made bunker," Chuck said. "And I wanted you to know your Aunt Ellie and your cousins, you know? I wanted us to have family dinners and holiday parties." Chuck shrugged his shoulders. "I just wanted you to have everything that your mom and I didn't have growing up."

"It tore both of us up, that we couldn't give you the kind of life we wanted to…the kind of life you deserved," Sarah continued. "But we didn't see any other options."

"I saw an option. But I didn't seriously consider it," Chuck said, "as least not at first. And then one day, when I was watching the news…."

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Chuck was glad to have found work at the little ocean side resort. There were enough TV, phone and WiFi problems here to keep him busy several days a week and it was good money, better than they had seen for awhile. Today he was working on the computer at the front desk that had contracted something nasty. While he worked, some news on the lobby TV caught his attention.

"I'm reporting from the Nevada/Arizona border, about 30 miles outside of Mesquite, where an IRS records storage building has been destroyed by an apparent gas explosion," the television reporter said. "Fire officials are on the scene and say they will have the blaze under control within the hour…."

The TV camera swept the burned out shell of a nondescript warehouse still smoldering as a witness was being interviewed. "It was like a bomb went off," he said as the camera took in the scene behind him. The shot panned past a piece of the wreckage that had a symbol on it, a stylized eagle with an olive branch in its mouth. As soon he saw it, Chuck felt his eyes roll up into his head.

* a turkey dinner * a computer schematic * the word "ORION" * an image of the president * a room of plasma screens * a turkey dinner *

Chuck moaned and shook his head back and forth to clear it. Once his mind was back into focus one thing was clear to him: the new Intersect, the one that had replaced him three years ago, had just been destroyed.

///////////////////////////////////////////////

"What's the Intersect?" Charlie asked.

"We can't tell you much," Chuck said, "we're already breaking half a dozen rules by even telling you the name of the program. So don't tell anyone you even know that word."

Charlie nodded solemnly.

"Listen carefully," Sarah said. "The Intersect was a government computer that was designed to look for patterns. You father seems to have the unique ability to memorize and process these patterns."

Charlie looked confused.

Chuck laughed nervously. "Look I don't even know why it works this way, but my brain seems to be wired a little different from most people. Your mom and I think that there's a small chance that yours might be too.

"Mine? Like, what? This 'ability' might be hereditary?" Charlie asked.

Chuck shrugged. "We don't know."

Sarah leaned forward to drive her point home. "Just know that if you go to work for the CIA they may want to use you the same way they did your father."

Charlie seemed to think about that for a moment. "But we don't know right?" he said, worry creeping into his voice. "We don't know if I can do whatever it is that dad does…or if they even would want me to."

"That's right," Sarah answered, "But we wanted you to know that it's a possibility - just in case."

Charlie's face looked grim but he simply nodded. "Okay," he said, sounding resolved. "So what did that mean to you - that this Intersect had been blown up?"

Chuck reached out and took Sarah by the hand. She is the one that answered, "It meant that our situation had just gotten a whole lot more complicated….."

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Sarah and Charlie were in Charlie's room playing blocks when Sarah heard the click of a key in the front door. She didn't carry any weapons on her person anymore because of Charlie, but she kept several hidden in the house. She quickly put the toddler into his crib and then she reached for the gun hidden high in his closet. She held it in her hand and readied herself to open the bedroom door.

"Sarah?" she heard Chuck call. She breathed a sigh of relief, and put the weapon back in its hiding place.

"In Charlie's room," she called back. "What are you doing home? I didn't think your shift was over until five."

She pulled an unhappy Charlie out his crib and sat down with him again. When Chuck entered the room Sarah noticed his face was pale and his eyes dark with worry.

"Chuck, what happened? Are you alright?"

Chuck nodded and sat stiffly in the wooden rocking chair by the crib. "Have you been watching the TV today?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "What happened?"

"There was another explosion in the states," he said, watching his son play with the blocks.

"Another terrorist attack? Where?"

"In the desert outside of Mesquite. They said it was a gas explosion. Sarah, it wasn't gas. It was a bomb."

"Another bomb?" she repeated. "Chuck, how do you know that?" she asked seriously, kneeling to see his face more clearly. When he didn't answer immediately she asked, "Did you flash?" Chuck sighed and nodded his head. "What? What did you flash on?" she asked.

Chuck swallowed and looked up from Charlie to Sarah. "It was the Intersect computer."

Sarah sat back heavily on the floor; she felt like the air had been knocked from her. "First all the terrorist attacks, and now this? The new Intersect destroyed?"

"I think that all those attacks were related," Chuck reasoned. "It's been Fulcrum gunning for the Intersect."

They sat in silence for a moment, both pondering the implications.

Chuck finally spoke, "Sarah, what if Fulcrum has an Intersect, and the government's has been destroyed? What would that mean?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know. The tables are tipped in Fulcrum's favor, I guess."

Charlie squealed and knocked down the block tower that he and Sarah had been building together. The blocks crashed to the ground in a heap. Chuck and Sarah both looked at the rubble on the floor. Sarah quickly reached down and started picking up the blocks and putting them in the toy box. Always the helper, Charlie started to pick up too, plopping blocks in the box with unsteady hands.

"Whatever happens, it has nothing to do with us," Sarah said.

"Nothing to do with us? Sarah, how can you say that? That's our country you're talking about."

"WAS our country," she corrected him.

"Was our…Sarah, you can't mean that!"

"The government betrayed you – betrayed _us_!"

"It wasn't the whole U.S.; it was one agency; a few evil people who forgot what it means to be American. I still believe in America, Sarah. In what it stands for."

"Even if the leaders there want you dead?" Sarah's voice rose.

"I doubt they want me dead anymore," he said grimly.

Chuck's response took her off guard. That was something Sarah had not yet considered and the reality of his words cut to her heart. "Oh my God, Chuck. You're the only Intersect!"

Chuck's ashen face acknowledged that he had already thought of that. With the functioning Intersect destroyed, Chuck had once again become the government's most valuable asset. Pretty soon agents would be combing through every place they had ever been, looking for them.

Chuck must have noticed the expression on Sarah's face because he said, "Why don't I put Charlie down for a nap, and then we can talk about our next move."

As Sarah kissed little Charlie on the forehead and left the room, her head buzzed with questions. Was the Intersect destroyed today the only one, or were there others? The other bombings, could those possibly been Intersects as well?

As she thought about the possible connections, she heard the creaking of the floorboards under the rocking chair and Chuck softly humming a lullaby. As she imagined the picture in her mind of her husband and her son, an overpowering urge to protect them swelled in her chest. She would do whatever it took to keep them safe.

A few minutes later Chuck came out of Charlie's room and headed for the small kitchen in their apartment. It wasn't really a kitchen, it was just a sink, a stove and a half sized refrigerator. "I'm getting a coke, you want one?"

"No thanks," Sarah said.

Chuck sat by her on the sofa and placed his drink on the coffee table. "Sarah, I want to talk to you about something. But I need to you just… just hear me out before you say anything."

Sarah sighed; she had heard this build-up before. Chuck always used it when he was going to tell her something she didn't want to hear.

When she didn't say anything he continued, "I've already been thinking about this a lot recently, and what happened today just confirmed it."

Sarah focused on the wall. These talks were always easier if she didn't look at him. Looking into his eyes always made her feel worse.

"Things are getting harder, you know, with Charlie getting bigger and everything. He wants to play with other kids, and it won't be long until he'll want to play soccer and T-ball and go to school. We both know that no matter how well we hide, we can never give him those things."

Sarah felt her heart sink in her chest. She had been thinking that too, but it made her concerns more real somehow, hearing them from Chuck.

Chuck continued. "And now with the Intersect destroyed, we both know it's only a matter of time until they find us."

"It'll be okay, Chuck." Sarah assured. "We'll find a safer place to go. Cuba… or Brazil… or…."

"Sarah, running further away isn't the answer. It's a pretty safe guess that the government wants me alive now – we can use that to our advantage."

"Advantage? There is no advantage with those people. If they want something, they take it. They wanted you, they took you. When they were done, when you were no longer useful, they tried to throw you away. That's how these people operate."

"But what happened today is provides the leverage we need. I've been thinking about this for a long time." He paused and took a deep breath. Sarah braced herself for the bombshell she was sure he was about to drop. "I think I should trade myself for amnesty for you and Charlie."

"What!?" Sarah gasped

"You heard me. A trade. The government's most valuable asset for one rogue spy and her son. They'll think it's a bargain."

"Don't tell me you're thinking about dealing with those people?" Chuck looked away, anger masking his face. "Why haven't you ever talked to me about this idea? You thought I would shoot you down? Well you were right. The only way for us to live is to go somewhere they will never think to look for us."

Chuck, raised his hands in the air. "See Sarah, THIS is why I haven't talked to you about this before. I knew you'd want to keep running. I'm sick of running."

Sarah, clenched her hands into fists. "It doesn't matter how you feel about it! This is how we survive!"

"But that's all it is. Surviving!" Chuck stopped to take a breath. When he spoke again his voice was more controlled. "Sarah, these past few years have been like a nightmare. The only bright spot is that we've been together. The times we've had with Charlie have been better then I could have imagined… but Sarah," he took her hands, "I want Charlie to have a normal life. I want _us_ to have a normal life."

"I want that too, but I don't know how we can have a normal life…I never have." Those last three words were only a whisper. Her eyes met his. "But I do know how to keep us alive."

"Yes, yes you do. And you have. But maybe it's time to stop hiding, to...start living, not just surviving."

"You just don't get it! You can't trust them, Chuck! I don't care what they promise, the minute they have you, they have all the power! What's to stop them from taking Charlie and me and throwing us in some bunker and holding us hostage to make you do what they want?"

"They aren't the only ones with power. All the things my dad taught me about the Intersect, how it's designed, how it works; I still have all those schematics in my head. They can't force that information out of me, Sarah, I have to give it willingly!"

Sarah could not believe what she was hearing. She couldn't stomach sitting next to him at that moment. She stood and walked to the window. It was only a half window with limp yellow curtains hanging on either side; it looked out over a narrow street that separated their apartment building from the next. Looking down, Sarah saw a lone grey cat, winding its way among the boxes and cans.

"Did you hear what I said?" Chuck asked.

Sarah continued to watch the cat until it jumped through a dark space between buildings and was gone. "I heard you," she said flatly. With the cat gone, Sarah suddenly became aware of her heart, how it beat quick and steady in her chest. She put her hand up to feel it. If he were to leave her, would it even keep beating, she wondered, or would she just disappear back into the shadows like the cat had done?

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm not sure what you want me to say," she said.

Chuck snorted. "Well, I expect you to keep arguing at least."

"You want to leave me. You think you can deal with the devil. I get it," she answered.

She felt him approach, but still she did not turn. She didn't want him to see the anger, or the hurt, in her eyes.

"I don't want to leave you; I just want you and Charlie to have a better life."

She felt his hands on her shoulders but she shrugged him off. "Don't," she warned. A moment passed and she heard the squeak of the sofa springs. She turned to see him sitting, his face in his hands.

Her anger bubbled over and she spun to face him. "Do you know what I don't get?" she asked bitterly. He looked up to her. "I don't get how, after _all_ that we've been through… how you could even _suggest_ this."

"Sarah, we talked about it. I'm the only Intersect. The last three years? They're going to be a picnic compared to what we're facing. If they were trying before, they'll be relentless now. We won't have a moment's peace. Is that what you want for us?

Sarah stepped towards him. "I don't care, Chuck. I don't care if all hell rains down on us. I cast my lot with you the day we left for Mexico and I'll be _damned_ if I'm going to give up now."

"But it's not just us anymore Sarah, it's Charlie too. If they catch up with us, Charlie's life would be in danger. This – this half life – isn't the kind of life I want for him."

"I don't want that either, but we don't have a choice."

"We do have a choice," Chuck said. "I'm going trade myself for your amnesty – yours and Charlie's. And I'll do it with or without your permission!"

Instinctively, Sarah's hand flew and struck Chuck across the face. "Don't you dare leave us," she growled.

Chuck grabbed her by the shoulders. "Don't you get it! I don't want to leave you!" He held her firmly and she was surprised by his strength. "You and Charlie are my life."

"How can we be your life if you don't love us enough to stay? You're going to abandon your son, just like your father did to you!"

He shook her and then seemed to realize what he was doing and dropped his hands. He turned and stepped away and then whirled around and pointed his finger in her face. His jaw clenched, and his eyes wild. "Don't you ever, and I mean EVER," he yelled, "accuse me of not loving you." He pounded his fist on his chest. "I would never even consider handing myself over to those people if I didn't love your lives more than my own." A lone tear ran down his tight face.

"Then don't do this," she said, pleading. "We can run. We can find a place. A place to settle down permanently. We can find another way; we always have."

Chuck shook his head. "There will be no peace for us and long as I have this," he pointed to his head. "So long as I'm the Intersect." He spat the last word, as if it were profanity.

Sarah stared in his desperate looking eyes for a moment, and was sure the expression was mirrored in her own. She hadn't realized before now but her hands trembling. She clasped them together to try to regain control. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She felt a pair of hands on hers and when she opened her eyes she saw Chuck's face, softened now, close to hers.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm sorry...for yelling…for everything," he breathed.

"Me too," she answered.

"Listen, can we talk about this later? Maybe give ourselves more time to think about it?"

"Sure," she said, "Maybe things will be clearer to both of us after some dinner and a good night's rest."

"I think that's a very good idea."

Chuck took her into his arms. She leaned into him, clutching him tightly. "We need to make this decision together." She reached up and put her hand on Chuck's cheek, guiding his eyes to hers. "Promise me you won't do anything until we've talked this through."

Chuck looked her in the eye. "I promise."

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"I think that's the only time your father has ever lied to me," Sarah said, blinking away the moisture in her eyes. "He had no intention of talking about it again. He had already made up his mind."

Chuck put his arm over Sarah's shoulders and pulled her in against him. He shook his head sadly. "I didn't feel like I had any other choice. It was the only way I could give you and mom the life that I wanted you to have."

"So what happened?" Charlie asked.

Sarah's lips tightened. "A couple of weeks later, your dad went to work and he never came home. Late that night a messenger dropped an envelope at the motel we were staying in. In it was a letter from your father, some money, and two airline tickets to LA."

Sarah remembered opening the door to the messenger that night, and the brown envelope he held. She had opened the seal with shaking hands, only to reveal the contents she most feared. The note from Chuck gave her no answers and little comfort. Only one thing was clear, he had abandoned her and their son.

Sarah shook her head at the recollection. Some old hurts had long scabbed over, but maybe they could never completely heal.

* * *

_I'm sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter. The delay is the result of needing to seek some advice, a beta copy covered in red ink, an obscure pop reference to blue pills and some mo-hee-tos (not mine, I never touch the stuff) - all in all a dull story so I won't repeat it here. Needless to say, I'm very glad to finally be getting this chapter posted._

_Many thanks to__** Sharpasamarble**__ who has again pushed me to my limits in producing a quality product. Additional thanks go to __**Timewalker**__ who helped me sift through some plot challenges and helped my dialogue "crackle." I admit to lifting a few lines directly from these gentlemen's ideas. I can't thank them enough._


	7. Who are you now?

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 7: Who are you now?**

* * *

Sarah looked at her watch. "We have to go if we are going to make our reservation."

"I guess you're right," Chuck said, reluctantly pulling his arm from Sarah's shoulders.

Chuck had sensed her sadness as she told the story of their fight and though he knew that they had talked out every side of the arguments years ago, he wished that there was something he could do to take away the old pain. While he watched Sarah fish for the car keys in her purse, he anticipated the end of the evening, when he could share some alone time with her. One thing he had learned after all these years was that it was far better to show Sarah how he felt about her, than drowning her in all his babbling.

Charlie held up his hands. "Hey, before we go, I'm dying to know, Dad, what happened to you?"

"I met some agents at the airport and I had no idea where I would be going. And you know what? It didn't really matter. I felt pretty confident that I had cut a good deal with the new CIA Director. I also contacted an old friend at the NSA who assured me they were holding up the deal on their end. Honestly, I didn't care where I went and what they did with me, just as long as you and your mom were safe."

"Were you like a prisoner or something? Somehow I can't imagine you in one of those orange jumpsuits."

Chuck laughed. "No, they were very professional. While they kept an eye on me, restricted where I could go and what not, once I got back to the States and started in my new job, they treated me pretty decent."

Charlie seemed to accept that and he turned his eyes to Sarah. "So what did you do, Mom, after you found out what dad did?"

"Honestly? My first instinct was to run. Take you and run far away where no one would ever find us. But when I cooled down and thought it through, I realized that I couldn't."

"Why not?" Charlie asked.

"Well, first of all, how could I make a living? I couldn't trust anyone to care for you while I was working. And second, and more importantly, as mad as I was at your father, I knew if we ran, that would be the end of it; we'd never see him again. But if we used the tickets, even if the government did take us and hold us hostage somewhere, at least there would be that small chance that we'd get to see your father again."

Sarah was still feeling a little shaken from the memories. It was amazing how you could put something behind you, go on living your happy life, and then without warning all those feelings could come welling back up again.

Wanting to get some fresh air before she continued, she stood. "Why don't we all walk down to the car, and I'll tell you about it on the way?"

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The cab dropped Sarah and Charlie off at the curb of a very nice suburban home in a suburb of LA. A two story house with two garages sat behind a well manicured lawn, a picture-perfect home for a pair of up-and-coming doctors. She checked the address one more time against the one scribbled on the back of the letter Chuck had left her. This was it. Sarah looked up the sidewalk; similarly nice homes lined the street in both directions. It felt so foreign to the life she had been living for the past three years. She had forgotten that people lived like this; after the poverty that she had seen and experienced, it seemed almost surreal to her. Although, there was a distant memory of she and Chuck sharing a house just like this on once on a mission. They had spent a wonderful morning pretending to have the perfect life. She shook her head. But that was just cover, and now, even staying in the perfect house, life would never be perfect because Chuck would not be there to share it with her.

She thought back to the morning after the messenger had delivered the envelope from Chuck. She had packed up their meager belongings for the evening flight to L.A., fitting it all into two bags and leaving the rest. She sold the little hatchback they had been driving for four hundred Bolivers, the local currency, and with that money she bought new clothes for herself and Charlie. For a special treat they ate lunch at a little restaurant not far from their apartment. Charlie loved arepas with jam and Sarah knew they probably wouldn't have another opportunity to eat authentic Venezuelan food for a long time, if ever. In the evening Sarah called the cab to take them to the airport. Before leaving the apartment that had been their home for the past six weeks, she stood in front of the mirror. "Who are you?" she asked the stranger she saw looking back at her. If she was not CIA and not Chuck's protector, what then was she?

She picked up their bags and took little Charlie by the hand. As she felt his warm skin and saw his trusting eyes, she knew one thing for certain: she was Charlie's mother. She drew strength from that thought alone all the way to LAX.

Now, standing in front of this grand house, Sarah's heart beat against her chest like a caged bird. She had known it would be an adjustment. But up until that moment she had only thought of the adjustment of being without Chuck and the change it would be for Charlie to be without his father; she hadn't considered the challenge she faced adjusting to 'normal' American life.

Charlie must have sensed her nervousness because he clutched her hand tightly as he looked up into her face, and then up to the strange house. "Cielo?" he asked her, pointing to the large dwelling.

Sarah pushed back her frustration. She had to make this transition as easy as possible for her little son. She squeezed his hand and smiled down at him. "Remember Charlie, we have to speak our English words now." He smiled and nodded back but Sarah wondered if he really understood what she meant. He had always spoken a mixture of Spanish and English; she doubted he knew which was which.

"And no honey," she said, ruffling his white blond hair, "this isn't heaven; it's your Aunt Ellie's and Uncle Devon's house. You remember; I told you about them." The little boy bobbed his head, his eyes wide and nervous. Sarah knelt down next to him. "Hey, don't worry, Aunt Ellie and Uncle Devon will love you, you'll see."

Sarah believed every word she had just said to her son. Ellie and Devon would love him, she was sure of that. But what would they think of her after all these years? Would they blame her for Chuck leaving? Would they guess how much of the fault rested on her own shoulders for what had happened to him? After all the years of lying to them, would they believe her now? She took comfort in the fact that they would take her in regardless, for Charlie's sake.

Sarah took a deep breath and picked up one of their bags. Leaving their other bag and Charlie's car seat on the curb, she and Charlie approached the front door. Summoning her courage, she only hesitated a second before ringing the bell.

A series of thumps and squeals came from the house. After a moment the door lock clicked and the door swung open. Ellie, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, had a look of confusion on her face as she regarded her visitors.

A little boy with sandy blond hair bounced up and down behind her. "Who are they, Mom?" he asked in an eager voice.

But Ellie did not respond; her face changed from confusion to disbelief. Her hand flew to her mouth as recognition set in.

Ellie had always had an appraising eye and Sarah was suddenly self conscious about how they must look; two beggars standing at the door with their bags. In Ellie's critical eye, she stood to be judged. She was sure that she looked nothing like the Sarah that Ellie thought she knew; she _felt_ nothing like that Sarah. The Sarah Ellie knew was a myth.

"Sarah?" Ellie questioned.

"Hi, Ellie," Sarah said shyly.

"Oh my! Sarah!" Ellie rushed forward and pulled Sarah into an embrace. Her hug felt unconditional and accepting and after a few seconds of reserved stiffness, Sarah melted into Ellie's warmth. After several moments, Ellie pulled away, and Sarah saw tears falling down the other woman's cheeks. As she looked into her face, Sarah saw in Ellie's eyes the comforting echoes of the man she loved.

"Sarah, is that really you? And this…" her eyes turned down to the little boy clutching Sarah's leg tightly. "Is this your son?"

Sarah reached down and picked up Charlie. "Charlie," she said, "meet your Aunt Ellie. Ellie, this is Charles John Bartowski."

"Thank heavens, you're alive!" Ellie reached out to take the little boy but he turned his head nervously into her mother's neck. Ellie, seeing the child's nervousness, instead reached out her hand and taking his small one between her finger and thumb, shook it cordially. "Nice to meet you, Charlie."

Charlie turned his face shyly towards her.

"He has Chuck's smile," Ellie said excitedly, "and your eyes!" Tears continued to fall freely down Ellie's face. "For all this time, we didn't know," she sniffled.

"Mommy!" the sandy haired boy whined, yanking on the back of Ellie's shirt.

"Oh," Ellie said, wiping her cheeks. "This is D.J.; he's almost four. D.J.," she said turning around to the boy, "say hello to your cousin, Charlie."

"Hey'ya Charlie!" D.J. said. "You wanna play in my room?"

Sarah looked down at Charlie, who was still clinging tightly to her. "Do you want to play with D.J.?" she asked. He nodded his head. "Okay, go ahead." She put the boy down but he grabbed her around the leg. "It's okay honey, D.J. is your cousin. He wants to play with you. Don't you want to play?"

Charlie nodded again and timidly let go.

"All right!" D.J whooped and ran up the stairs, beckoning to Charlie. With one last look back and an encouraging nod from his mom, Charlie followed him up the stairs.

Ellie looked anxiously past Sarah out to the road. "Where's my brother? Isn't he with you?" Sarah couldn't speak; she just shook her head sadly. "But you two were together when your baby was born; I talked to him," Ellie said.

"We were together until a few days ago," Sarah managed to answer.

Ellie must have seen the distress on Sarah's face because she hugged Sarah once more. "Sarah, is he… ?" she asked, unable to say the words.

Sarah squeezed Ellie's shoulders. "Don't worry, he's fine. He just… He couldn't come with us, that's all."

"You two have been gone for three years Sarah. Where have you been? I got a note from Chuck saying that he was in some sort of trouble and not to worry. But Sarah, my brother just disappears off the face of the earth! How am I supposed to not worry?"

"He left you a note?"

"Yes, the night you guys disappeared. And then the Buy More started to call and Morgan. I didn't know anything. The police came and then men in suits. It was the men in suits that made me think that you guys must be in some real trouble. I kept expecting to get a phone call or a post card or something! But I didn't hear anything for almost a year until Chuck called early that morning. And even then he didn't tell me anything."

"I know," Sarah said, "It must have been terrible for you…"

"Terrible?! Sarah, you were delivering a baby, my brother's baby, and I didn't know if you were alive or dead! And then more men came by the house. Sarah, I swear they were watching us night and day." Ellie started to cry in earnest.

Sarah put her hands on Ellie shoulders. "Ellie, Ellie, it's okay." She pulled Ellie into a hug. "We're okay. We're all okay. We're here now."

Ellie sniffled. "But why did you have to go, Sarah? And where have you been all these years? Ellie pulled back and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Sarah took a deep breath and said, "Ellie, we have a lot of things to talk about. I promise I will tell you as much as I can, but we've been on a plane all night…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, you must be exhausted," She stepped back and swung the door open. "Please, come in; make yourself at home."

After carrying in her things, washing up and checking on the boys, Sarah joined Ellie in the kitchen. Sarah remembered that Ellie liked to cook when she was anxious.

Ellie was just pushing a tray into the oven. "I hope you're not going out of your way for me," Sarah said.

"It's no problem," Ellie answered, closing the oven door. "I had some cookie dough in the freezer and I thought we could both use a little chocolate."

Sarah smiled at that and took comfort in the fact that Ellie was trying to take care of her.

Ellie leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Listen, you look like you've had a long day. We have plenty of room here. If you want to get settled in the basement and take a nap for awhile, I'll keep an eye on Charlie."

"Do I really look that bad?" Sarah asked, sincerely wanting an honest answer.

"Listen, I have two kids, I totally know how exhausting traveling with kids can be," Ellie said.

"Two?" Sarah said, surprised.

"You haven't met Ethan, our one year old. He's taking a nap."

"Wow, you do have your hands full," Sarah said, "and thanks for the offer. I haven't slept for over 24 hours; I really could use the rest."

"It's no problem. But promise me, Sarah," Ellie got an intense look in her eyes, "that when you wake up, you will tell me everything you can about my brother."

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"So what could you tell her? Not much, I bet." Charlie said.

"Well, I wanted to be as honest as I could with Ellie. Honesty goes a long way with Bartowskis. So I told her as much as I thought was safe for her to know. When she asked for more details, I told her that I couldn't give them."

Charlie grinned. "Oh, I bet that ticked her off. I know how Aunt Ellie likes to know everyone's business."

"Hey," Chuck said. "Don't knock Ellie; she just likes to take care of the people she loves, that's all."

"Don't get me wrong, Dad," Charlie said. "I love Aunt Ellie. It was because of her and Uncle Devon that I majored in pre-med. But you have to admit, she can be a busy body sometimes."

"I, for one, will always be grateful for Ellie's _nurturing_." Sarah emphasized the last word. "I owe her more than I can ever repay. She and Devon took us in when we had no where else to go. They gave us a home – the first real home you ever had, Charlie. And she was there for me when I really needed someone."

"So we lived with D.J. and Ethan for awhile?" Charlie mused. "I don't remember that."

"I'm glad," Sarah said. "It was a dark time for me. It's good that you don't remember me like that."

"How so?" Charlie asked.

"Your mom…she sorta went through…what you might call a bout of depression," Chuck said.

"That's putting it mildly," Sarah supplied.

The car pulled up to the restaurant, so the conversation stopped while they walked in and were seated. An extra twenty dollars got them a quiet table away from other diners.

After they ordered, Charlie leaned across the table and looked at Sarah; she could see the concern in his eyes. "You know, I remember how homesick I got when I first moved away from home. And I'm sure that was nothing compared to what you went through," he said supportively.

"It was hard for me," Sarah admitted. "Your Aunt Ellie had kept all of your father's things. And after we showed up, she and Devon moved them into their empty basement and set up an apartment for us. I think she thought having all those reminders of your father's around would bring me comfort - and in some ways it did. But it was hard waking up every morning in your father's bed, being surrounded by all his stuff. Even the boxes of clothes smelled like him."

Sarah paused and sipped her drink. "I couldn't see past my own grief to be the kind of mother I wanted to be. So Ellie took over a lot of that, too. I owe her so much."

"So what did you do?"

"I couldn't get a job; I didn't have any ID - though that was probably just an excuse. It was hard enough to wake up each morning and breathe in and out. I'd wear your father's old shirts and watch all his DVD's. Somewhere in my mind I thought if I could learn to love all the things your dad loved that it would bring me closer to him somehow."

"You know your Aunt Ellie," Chuck added. "She tried to help your mom adjust, to get her to join some mother's groups, that sort of thing. But stubborn as your mom can be, she would have none of it."

"And did you hear from dad? Were you two able to talk to each other?" he asked both of them.

"Part of the deal I had with the CIA was that I wouldn't start working for them until I could verify that your mom and you were safely at Ellie's. So the CIA set up a camera on the light pole outside of Ellie's house. As long as I saw you and your mom coming and going freely and everything looked okay, I would do everything they asked," Chuck said.

"But I didn't get the advantage of seeing your father on a monitor. It was three months before I got word that he was okay. Even then, I didn't know where he was or what exactly he was doing."

"Three months! I hate it when I don't get to talk to you guys for a couple of weeks," Charlie said as he swirled the ice in his cup.

"And when I did finally hear news about your father, it came from a very surprising source…."

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Sarah was working her way through the third season of Battlestar Galactica when the two boys ran through the basement family room. They whooped as they 'rode' stick horses and 'shot' one another with their fingers bent into guns.

"Bang Bang!" yelled D.J. "I got ya, Charlie!"

"Did not!" Charlie protested.

"Did too!" D.J. yelled back.

"Mom!" Charlie whined.

Sarah put up her hand to silence him. "I don't want to hear it."

"But Mah-hom!"

"Charlie, either play nice with D.J. or I'll put you down for a nap," Sarah snapped.

Both boys trudged up the stairs, stick steeds in hand. "Your mom is always so grumpy," D.J. muttered.

Sarah overheard, of course, and the truth of the child's words stung. She _was_ always grumpy, but she couldn't help it. How could anyone find happiness after what she had been through? It was better not to think about it. She turned her attention back to the screen.

Ellie poked her head around the corner. "Sarah? I hope you're decent. You have a visitor."

Sarah picked up the remote and clicked off the TV. A visitor? Who would visit her? Who even knew she was here?

Ellie disappeared and a large man in a suit rounded the corner from the stairs. "Walker!" he called out.

Sarah stood. "John?" she breathed. He strode to where she stood and swept her up into a bear hug.

"Dammit, Walker," he growled in her ear. "I never thought I'd see you again."

She broke the embrace and slugged him playfully on the chest. "Don't ever count me out, Casey."

The corners of his lips turn up slightly as he looked her over. Sarah squirmed beneath his scrutinizing eye.

"You look like hell, Walker."

"Yeah, well, that's about right then." She gestured for him to take a seat.

"I would have come sooner but I've been... busy at work."

Sarah nodded.

"But don't think I've been sleeping at my post. I've been keeping tabs on you ever since your 'reappearance'."

"Nice to know that people care enough to keep an eye on me," Sarah said sarcastically.

Casey grunted. "Well, you know how it is."

"Yeah. I know."

"'Brought something that might cheer you up." He reached into his satchel and pulled out a legal sized envelope and tossed it to her.

She looked down at it confused. "What is this?" She opened the envelope and pulled out a file folder that contained birth certificates for her and Charlie, Social Security cards, a California driver's license, and a college diploma in the name "Sarah Walker."

"There's more," Casey said, pointing. Sarah reached back in and pulled out a piece of parchment. She couldn't disguise the surprise that splashed across her face. It was a marriage license.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Bartowski," Casey smirked. "You have your life back."

Sarah was stunned. "How is this possible?" she asked.

"Don't go gettin' all misty on me just yet. I saved the best for last." Casey reached into his inner suit pocket, pulled out a small white envelope, and handed it to Sarah.

The flap was stamped with the Official Seal of the President of the United States. She pulled out the letter and read it to herself.

"I've been discharged from the CIA," she mumbled. Glancing up at Casey with a wry smile, she said, "No surprise there. And… oh my…" she said in disbelief. "I've… I've been granted a full pardon?" she asked, amazed.

"Don't get so excited," Casey said sarcastically.

Storm clouds gathered in her eyes. "I don't want this…" she spat. She could feel her eyes starting to fill and angrily wiped the tears away. "Chuck's blood is all over these documents." She dropped the letter like it was poison. "My God, what has he done!"

Casey shook his head. "What the hell are you talking about, Walker?"

"Don't you get it? Chuck sold himself for me. I can't take these," she said shoving all the papers back into the envelope and pushing them towards Casey.

He frowned and shook his head. "You're a sorry piece of work. You know that?"

Sarah looked up at him in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Chuck gave up everything for you and you just spit on it."

"No, Casey. It's the other way around. I gave up everything to save him. And then he went and threw it away."

"Oh come off it, Walker. Don't try and tell me you went AWOL for Chuck. I know you, too well," he said accusingly, "You did it for you." His finger accented the last two words.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I watched you two dance around each other for three years. You nearly killed him with all your, 'We can't. It wouldn't be professional,' while you sent him all kinds of mixed messages. And I was the one who had to listen to him whining and moaning night after night." Sarah stared at him opened mouthed. "Then, when Chuck's life was in danger, it was _you_ that couldn't live without _him_. It was _your_ idea to run. Took the poor schmuck by the nose and dragged him all over the damn world." He shook his head in disgust. "You thought I didn't hear the whole thing?" he smirked. "And now that he finally manned up and stood up for himself, and for you and your kid, you're back to singing the same old song, thinking only about yourself."

Sarah gaped at Casey. She tried to stammer out a rebuttal, but anger choked back her words.

"Don't believe me?" Casey smirked. "You gave up your life for him. You said so yourself. Why is it okay for you, but not the other way around?"

"I…I…" Sarah struggled for the words. "Dammit Casey, It was my job to protect _him_. He trusted me. My job! It wasn't his job to go and save me."

"Wasn't his job? Sarah, he was in love with you. That's what people in love do."

Sarah covered her face with her hands in defeat. "It's just so hard, Casey."

He grunted. "The Sarah Walker I knew, never gave up when things got hard."

Casey got up and walked across the room. He pulled back the curtains with a flourish. Sunlight poured into the basement room for the first time in weeks. Sarah squinted and turned from the light.

"Now, if you really love Chuck, you'll get off your butt and start building that 'perfect' life you were always talking about. That way, when he comes home, he'll actually have somewhere to come home to."

"Do you really think he'll actually come back? That they'll let him go?" she asked bitterly.

"If there's one thing I learned from three years of babysitting the geek…er…your husband, it's to never count him out." Casey walked over and picked up his satchel. "Now, I'll be in LA for a week. Tomorrow I'm going to come back here, and I'm going to give my namesake this..." He pulled a miniature NFL football out of his bag, "and I'm going to teach him how to throw it. And when that's done, you and I are going to sit down and make some plans about getting you a job and a place of your own." He looked her full in the face with his piercing blue eyes. "You got it, Walker?"

Sarah looked away to hide her face. Adopting that emotionless mask she had once been expert at wasn't so easy these days, but she did her best.

Casey headed for the stairs but stopped and turned. "Oh, and one more thing. I have a message from Bartowski."

Sarah's eyes lit up. "You've seen him? Is he okay?"

Casey nodded. "He says…" Casey cleared his throat uncomfortably. "He says that he still means everything he said at the fountain and… um… he hopes that someday you'll forgive him."

Sarah absorbed the message hungrily. "Anything else? Is there a way I can contact him?"

Casey shifted. "I've…uh…asked for an assignment in D.C. so I can keep an eye on the little twerp. Once I get settled I'll see if there's a way for you to write to him or something, but don't get your hopes up."

And without looking back, Casey swept from the room, leaving Sarah feeling like she had just been run over by a Mac truck.

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_I don't think I say how much I appreciate the good people I've met here at FF. I've exchanged PMs with lots of you readers and I've enjoyed it very much. If you have a question feel free to PM me, or leave your question in a review and I promise to get back with you. I haven't met a writer here yet that doesn't love to talk about their writing._

_Thinking of great people, my hat goes off to __**Sharpasamarble**__ who again has given me valuable feedback and direction on this chapter. As well as __**Timewalker**__ who is often my sounding board and who helped again with "crackling" dialogue. I highly recommend both these writer's works to you – especially if you like action and adventure. _

_Note: Did you know that Sarah Walker went to college? It's true. If you read through the Spy Dossiers on NBC's website you'll see that Sarah was recruited out of Harvard!_


	8. Propositions, Part I

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 8: Propositions, Part I**

* * *

Sarah didn't realize how hungry she was until the waitress brought out her meal. For some reason linguine and shrimp had never tasted so good. Chuck and Charlie must have agreed because for the next few minutes they all ate in silence.

Half way through a hamburger, Charlie asked, "So your old partner was the one who helped us get settled in that apartment in San Gabriel? I remember that place. It had a pool."

Sarah chuckled. "Yes. You loved the water."

"Yeah, I remember learning to swim in that pool." Charlie furrowed his eyebrows trying to remember. "Didn't you teach me, Dad?"

"No," Chuck shook his head, "I wish I had, but I wasn't with you in San Gabriel."

"It was Uncle Morgan," Sarah supplied. "He came down every Saturday that whole summer to babysit you. I had to work and Ellie put in a full shift at the hospital on Saturdays. Morgan stepped in to fill the gap."

Charlie paused between chews and a goofy grin crossed his face. "Uncle Morgan, man, he sure is great, isn't he?" Charlie glanced between his parents. "Does he know? About, you know…"

"Oh, no," Chuck said, "I mean, he knows a little, but not the whole story. Mom told him that I hacked in to a high security government computer and when they found out, we panicked and ran. Once we turned ourselves in, the government hired me to find weaknesses in their computer systems, and that is why I was gone for so long."

Charlie nodded and turned his attention back to his plate. "So what happened next?" he asked, smothering a fry in ketchup.

"I started to work at a non-profit. It wasn't much, but it paid the bills," Sarah said.

"This was before you became a lobbyist?"

"Yes, that didn't happen 'till much later, but it certainly got me thinking in that direction. It was a group that worked for victims rights."

"My mom," Charlie mused, "always out to change the world."

Sarah blushed. "Not change it, just make it better. I needed to do something and…it helped me not miss your father as much." She exchanged glances with her husband. "And of course I had you." She smiled at Charlie.

"So Dad, what were you doing?"

Chuck sighed. "I was working…and missing you two. I hoped that once I finished the new Intersect computer they would let me go, or at least let me see you guys once in a while…."

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The casual observer would think that the room looked like a NASA command center. On one wall large black computers hummed and blinked in colored lights. Another wall was covered with monitors showing graphs, logarithms, and line after line of programming code. Chuck sat hunched over in the middle of all this technology, paging through one of many notebooks he had filled while guiding himself through flashes on various aspects of the Intersect. One small black and white monitor, different from the rest, sat in front of him on his desk. The screen showed a black and white grainy view of the side of an apartment building and part of a parking lot.

Chuck anxiously glanced up at the screen. It was 7:45. Usually he would have seen them by now.

The door opened behind him. "No day dreamin' on my watch. Get to work, Chuckles," Casey barked. "The General wants to have diagnostics run on phase five by Friday."

Chuck waved him off without turning around. "I know Casey, I know. Tell him that the "Asset" is working his "asset" off. This isn't exactly rocket science you know," he said tossing down his pencil in frustration, "it's infinitely more complicated."

"Leave the whining for someone who cares. Just make sure you get it done."

"You know Casey," Chuck said spinning around to face him. "I would work much better if I was able to talk to my wife, or maybe even visit her once in awhile. It's been over six months and sitting here day after day thinking about her is a driving me crazy."

"Get it back in your pants, Bartowski. You have a job to do. You're safe and she's safe. That was the deal. Remember, phase five by Friday." Casey left and the door closed loudly behind him.

"Thanks for the pep talk," Chuck grumbled to himself. He glanced up to the black and white monitor just in time to see the small figures of a woman and a little boy making their way towards the parking lot."

"There you are," he said, his whole face breaking into a grin. "You're getting bigger and bigger every day," he said in a sing song voice, touching the image of the little blond boy with his finger. And the woman, she was smiling as she loaded the boy into his car seat. As she closed the passenger door, Chuck saw her slip on her sunglasses. Even on the grainy monitor he could see that she was beautiful. She took the driver's seat and a moment later, the car pulled away.

Chuck looked up toward the ceiling and ran his fingers through his hair. He thought after time, that it would get easier, that he would stop missing them so much his chest constantly ached and his arms always felt empty. But if anything, it had gotten harder. Seeing them every day on the monitor was sweet torture. But at least he knew they were safe; safe and happy. That's what he had wanted, right?

He turned back to his work. Sifting through his notebooks he found the brown one that was a little more tattered than the others. He turned the worn pages to find his last entry. He picked up a pen and wrote the date. Next to the date he wrote, "7:49 a.m.: SB and CB exit parking lot. Well and happy." Chuck sighed and tossed down the pen and notebook. Only nine hours and twenty five minutes and Sarah and Charlie would be coming home. Only nine hours and twenty five minutes until he would be with his family again, if only for a few seconds.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Sarah reached over and put her hand on Chuck's and turned to Charlie. "Once we got settled at our new place our life fell into a certain rhythm. You would go and play with D.J. while I worked during the week. Thursdays were my days off, so we'd go the park, or to the beach.

"I started going to a gym three days a week, right after work. I met a woman there about my same age. She was tall, statuesque really, with short black hair. Her name was Nicole. We always were at the gym at the same time. You know, one of those people who you see over and over. We were the only women that did free weights and one day she asked me to spot her. We made fast friends after that."

"What did you tell her, you know, about Dad?"

"I told her that he was overseas on business, you know, it was just small talk. She said that she was divorced, so we spent a lot of time talking about how much we missed having a man around. It was nice to feel like I had a friend. Other than Ellie, I hadn't had a girl friend for a long time.

"I guess my spy skills were pretty rusty because when she invited me out for a girl's night I didn't suspect anything…."

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Sarah had not had this much fun in a long time. After dropping off Charlie at Ellie's, she and Nicole had met for an early dinner followed a sappy chick-flick, that Sarah really hadn't wanted to see, but was surprised by how much she enjoyed. They were wrapping up their evening by enjoying a little dessert before Sarah had to pick up Charlie.

Sarah dug her fork into her chocolate cheese cake. "I'm going to have to do an extra hour in the gym on Monday to work this off."

"You? No, way," Nicole retorted. "You look fabulous! How much have you lost since you started? Ten pounds?"

Sarah was pleased someone noticed. "No, I haven't really lost much. The weight is just shifting from fat to muscle. At least I hope that's what's happening."

"Totally," Nicole said. "I bet you could out press any woman in that place, and most of the men, for that matter."

Sarah smiled appreciatively. "I could never beat you at the leg press. What are you doing now 450?"

"500," Nicole answered and took another bite of her apple pie. After a comfortable silence Nicole's face grew serious. "Sarah, can I tell you something?"

Sarah was caught off guard by the sudden shift in mood. "Sure, anything."

"Don't freak out, but I haven't been totally honest with you."

Sarah had heard the words 'don't freak out' enough, that hearing them come out of her friend's mouth got her attention. It wasn't just the words though. It was something about the way Nicole's whole countenance had changed when she said them, like she was just acting a part in a play and this was a new scene. Sarah tried to calm the bells and whistles going off in her head. _This isn't spy world after all,_ she berated herself_. It's probably just girl talk stuff; you're just so rusty you don't remember._

"Oh?" she said, revealing only mild interest.

"I don't work for a legal firm. I don't know how to type. And I don't lift weights just to relieve stress."

"Okay," Sarah said confused, "so what do you do?"

"I work for an organization - for a group of people that want to make this country a better place for everyone." Nicole looked into Sarah's eyes meaningfully. "A group of people that is very interested in you."

Sarah instinctively reached for her gun, remembering too late that she didn't carry one anymore, a condition of her presidential pardon. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, trying to disguise the flinch of her hand by scratching her back.

Nicole's eyes seemed to take in Sarah's actions, but her expression didn't reflect anything but amusement. "Sarah, we've been friends for several months now. I don't want to play games. I know all about you – that you're rogue CIA."

Sarah felt her blood run cold, but she kept her face calm, uninterested. "Like I said, Nicole, you must have me confused with someone else. I'd better get going."

Sarah pulled some money from her purse and threw it on the table, as she did the other woman grabbed her by the wrist. Her grip was very firm. "Don't go," her voice was sincere, not threatening. "I'm here as a friend…to make you an offer."

"I'm sure I'm not interested in anything you have to say," Sarah said coolly while she calculated the best way to take this woman down without drawing attention to herself.

"Even if I can promise you that you can be with Chuck again?" Nicole said. Sarah's eyes widened. "That's right, you and your husband and your son can all be together again. And we will keep you safe. I promise you that."

Sarah yanked her wrist from Nicole's grip. Could it be true? Was there a way that she could have Chuck back in her life again? That they could be a family? Of course it was a fantasy but Sarah's curiosity was piqued. She slowly sat back down. "I'm listening."

"I know the US Government betrayed you. They put out kill orders on your husband, and then on you when you tried to protect him. Execution orders, Sarah, without cause, without trial. That doesn't sound very constitutional to me. And it doesn't sound like a very fair reward for all the years you two gave to their service."

"What's your point?"

"Your husband isn't working overseas, Sarah. He is a prisoner of the CIA. He is being held without bail, with no chance at parole. He's on the government's chain-gang, Sarah, and when they are done using him, do you think they will just let him go? You've been in the business a long time, what has your experience shown you? When he's done his time are they going to just let him walk free? You know as well as I do how those people operate. This time will be no different. They betray everything that you and I believe in."

Sarah caught herself before she nodded in agreement. Even though everything Nicole said was true, she knew that the best con man always told two truths to lace one lie.

"Think about it, Sarah. Is this the kind of country you want to live in? Corruption at every level, total disregard for Citizens rights?" She leaned in. "Like the rights of a son to see his father and the rights of a wife to be with her husband? And they do all this, not for the betterment of the whole, but for their own personal agenda?"

Sarah couldn't help but to think of the night she packed her bags knowing that she had to take Chuck and run. She remembered feeling utterly betrayed by the organization that had been her home and family for the last ten years. That's why she turned her back on them because they had turned their back on her.

Sarah clenched her fist in anger. It _was_ unfair what the CIA had done to her and to Chuck and Charlie. They had ripped her family and her dreams apart for their own purposes. They had used her; sold her on a lie, demanded her loyalty, and when she didn't comply, they had tried to destroyed her. Now they were going to do the same to Chuck.

Nicole must have sensed her reaction because the smile she gave Sarah now was almost predatory. "We need people like you, Sarah. We need good agents who see the bigger picture, agents that don't want to be puppets in their schemes, agents that want to clean out the corruption and make this country a safe place where all its citizens receive their God given rights."

This time Sarah nodded, and she did not disguise it. "I hear what you are saying, but I'm a mother now. I'm out of the game and it has to stay that way."

"We all have families, Sarah. We are doing this _for _them, to make this world a better place for our children and grandchildren." Nicole reached out and put her hand on Sarah's. In doing so she captured Sarah's eyes with her own. "We have safe places - whole communities - that are under our continual protection, in the US and overseas. You and Chuck and your son can be together. If you work for us, you will be free and safe, I promise."

Sarah pulled her hand away. "How is that possible? You said yourself that my husband is a prisoner."

"We have our ways, as you well know. And people who possess special skills, like your husband, would be worthy of our resources and protection. Unlike the CIA, we know how to be loyal to those who join our cause."

Sarah shook her head slightly, as if breaking this woman's spell. "While that sounds really nice, I know it's not that simple."

Nicole leaned back. "I understand. It's a lot to take in at once. But promise me you'll think about it." She reached in her handbag and pulled out a business card. "Call me when you're ready to hear more."

Sarah looked at the card but did not reach for it.

Nicole leaned in and spoke softly. "Look, one morning you're going to wake up and realize that your son grew up without his father. On that morning, Sarah, you're going to wish you took the card."

Sarah glanced around nervously. The image of a fatherless Charlie came unbidden to her eyes. Controlling the trembling in her hand, Sarah reached out and took the card. She shoved it deep into her pocket as she stood from the table.

"I'm sure we'll be talking again soon." Nicole smiled, the predator replaced by the friend, and turned back to the last few bites of her pie.

Sarah turned her back on the table and quickly walked from the restaurant. By the time she reached the parking lot she started to run. She couldn't get away fast enough. But all the running in the world couldn't cool the burning of the card in her pocket and it couldn't cool the dreams that had rekindled in her heart.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"That woman, Nicole, she was part of that group, what was their name - Leverage?" Charlie asked.

"You mean, Fulcrum," Chuck supplied.

"Yeah, them, the group that had been doing all those bombings."

Sarah nodded. "She was. And they wanted me to join."

"But you didn't, did you?"

Chuck turned to Sarah, and Sarah just stared at her glass as she swirled the ice around and around.

"She…" Chuck began, but then Sarah put a hand on his knee to silence him.

"Charlie, you need to know before deciding to join the CIA, that once you are in that life, things are never, never that simple."

* * *

_If you like this story or any of the others I've written I would love it if you would pop over to the Chuck boards on this site and nominate them in the __**Awesome Awards for Excellence in Chuck Fanfic.**__ Even if you don't want to nominate my stuff, that's okay, just get over there and nominate your favorite writers and stories. You can enter nominations until May 3__rd__. You can get to the Chuck boards by clicking on "Discussion Forums" on the upper right of the main Chuck stories page. Choose the first forum and the nominations will be the top post on the board. _

_As always, many thanks to my beta __**Sharpasamarble**__. He continues to keep me on the right track. _

_This chapter is short (for me anyway) because the chapter I wrote this week got so long with each editing that I decided to post it in two parts. I should be posting the second part soon. I told a few of you that there were only a couple of chapters left in this story, but as seems to often be the case, my characters have surprised me. Specifically Sarah, who has decided to go a little different way then I had originally outlined. Since she is the one with the guns and Kung Fu moves, I guess this story is going to be stretching out a little bit longer._


	9. Propositions, Part II

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 9: Propositions, Part II**

* * *

"_But you didn't, did you?"_

_Chuck turned to Sarah, and Sarah just stared at her glass as she swirled the ice around and around._

"_She…" Chuck began, but then Sarah put a hand on his knee to silence him._

"_Charlie, you need to know before deciding to join the CIA, that once you are in that life, things are never, never that simple."_

"You've said that a lot today, Mom; that the CIA makes everything grey."

Sarah nodded. "That's right. And this was another of those 'grey' moments. Did I trust Fulcrum? No. But I didn't trust the CIA either. I guess what it came down to was: who did I trust the most?"

"Or the least," Chuck chimed in.

"So what did you do?" Charlie asked.

"Well, the first thing I did was to send you and Uncle Morgan on a camping trip to Yosemite. Fulcrum knew about us and that made me nervous.

"And then I tried to contact the CIA. Because of what happened, I wasn't exactly on friendly terms with anyone at the Agency anymore, so I didn't really have any contacts. I tried leaving messages at the Director's office but I never could get through. The only person I really trusted was John Casey. I left message after message at the emergency number he left me, but he never returned my calls. When all that didn't work, I decided to fly to D.C. myself …"

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Sarah checked her watch. She had been sitting in the waiting area for a little over four hours. The agent working the front desk had been entirely unhelpful. It wasn't like she had asked to see the Director himself, just someone from his staff, someone with a high enough clearance to know what the Intersect program was. She told him that she was ex-CIA, and that she had valuable information. He refused to even look up her name. As a last resort she asked to talk to Colonel John Casey. When the desk agent finished typing into his computer and told her that no such person existed, Sarah nearly lost her temper. She raised her voice and the desk agent called in some friends to help him 'calm her down'. Sarah backed down, informing them that she would sit in these chairs until 'hell froze over or someone came down to talk to her, whichever came first.' Now she suspected that she had come all this way for nothing.

She watched jealously as person after person flashed badges and ID cards and passed through the security check points. That was her once, determined and confident. She had walked these halls so often that she knew them by heart. But now she was a stranger to that life and to all the people who lived it.

A man in a black suit walked up to the security desk and spoke to the agent there. The agent pointed at her and the black-suited man nodded. He approached her. "Mrs. Bartowski? I'm Agent Snow from the Director's office. I understand you have something to report."

"Yes. Thank you for seeing me. Is there somewhere we can talk?"

After being shown to a small, windowless conference room, Sarah told Agent Snow all about 'Nicole', the Fulcrum agent. The agent grunted and took down a couple of notes on a pad.

"Well thank you for the information, Mrs. Bartowski. We'll be sure to look into it," the agent said, folding up his pad and storing the pencil in the rings.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"I'm not sure what you expect me to do, Mrs. Bartowski. I told you we would look into it, and we will."

"But my son and I could be in danger."

Agent Snow smiled condescendingly. "I'm sure that you'll both be fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot to do."

As the agent made for the door Sarah reached out and grabbed his arm. "Can I at least see my husband?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." When he tried to break her hold on his arm, Sarah refused to let him leave.

The Agent's expression turned threatening. "Go home, Mrs. Bartowski. Go home to your son."

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"As soon as I got back to my hotel room I decided…"

Chuck interrupted. "You're not going to give away the best part are you?"

Sarah looked at him, puzzled. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was just going to tell Charlie what happened."

"But you're going to tell him the punch line first thing."

"It's my story, Dear, I can tell it any way I want."

"But you're making it boring."

"Chuck, history is history; I don't see why it matters."

"Just trust me on this one. Let me tell it."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. You win. You tell it. I wanted to order some dessert anyway."

"So," Chuck turned to Charlie with excitement in his eyes, "one night I was sitting in my apartment finishing my daily report…"

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

At the end of yet another day, Chuck's handlers escorted him back to his apartment. They used the word "apartment" but really it was a one-roomed cell in the basement of an old house. Chuck's handlers lived on the main level. The warehouse wasn't really a warehouse either; it was more like Fort Knox with a tin covering. Chuck couldn't have an apartment in the warehouse because he would set off all the "sensitive security equipment" there. The house where Chuck stayed was separated from the warehouse by a hundred yards of gravel parking lot and the entire compound was surrounded by a chain link fence and barbed wire. A large sign on the chain link declared: "FDA Research Lab, Biohazard."

Chuck was glad to be back to his little room consisting of an armoire, a kitchenette (that he never used), a table and a bed. It had only one window and that was locked tight. Because he was in the basement, there was no view out of the window; just some gangly weeds growing in the four foot deep window-well. Chuck had learned that if he stood right next to the window and looked up, he could see a sliver of sunlight through the iron window-well cover. It was good that he was only here a few hours each night because living there full time, in a tiny room with no sunlight, would have driven him crazy.

The first, and only, thing Chuck had to do this evening was work on the daily report. It was bad enough that they made him work ten hours a day rebuilding the Intersect, but every night he found the daily report waiting for him in the form of a laptop sitting on his table. The laptop would have photos and videos, even sound clips, that he would have to review to see if he "flashed" on anything. Then he had to dictate all his flashes into a digital recorder, which, he assumed, someone transcribed.

His vision was going blurry a couple hours later when he finished the last of the report and closed the screen. Chuck stripped down to his boxers and fell exhausted into bed.

He woke with a start to a series of soft "pft" sounds. Perhaps it was all those years on the run, but Chuck had a hard time sleeping through any unusual noises. He lay there tense, waiting for anything further. It wasn't long before he heard another "pft" and a solid crunch in the gravel outside.

Alerted now that something was defiantly amiss, Chuck jumped out of bed and pulled on his jeans. He went to his window and looked up out of the well. It was a dark night and he couldn't see anything but blackness. That wasn't surprising; even on the brightest of nights he would only be able to see a few stars and shadows.

There were crunching sounds again; this time it sounded like footsteps close to the house. Should he wake his handlers? Chuck took a deep breath. He was probably just being paranoid.

He sat back down on the edge of his bed heavily, wishing that Sarah were here. She would know what to do; she always knew what to do. This was simply another reminder of how much he had depended on her the past six years. Just being with her gave him strength and confidence. Being here alone, he felt lost.

He heard a clunking sound outside his window. There was no mistaking the sound: bolt cutters breaking through steel.

Chuck ran through past the kitchenette towards the stairway that led to the door. He turned back and his heart leapt into his throat as he saw shadowy figures descent into the window well.

Panicking, he ran up the stairs, his footsteps thudding loudly on the treads. As he climbed he thought he heard his name called through the muffle of the glass, but he wasn't about to turn around to find out how the intruders would know his name.

"Help!" he called, pounding on the door. "Someone's breaking into my room!"

The glass in his bedroom shattered just as the door on the landing swung open. Chuck, who had turned to see what had happened to the window, was struck by the door. He went tumbling down the stairs as one of his handlers burst through the doorway.

Twack! A muffled shot rang out. Chuck regained his footing just in time to see his handler come toppling down the stairs toward him, blood marking his chest. He turned to see three masked figures standing by the window.

"Dammit!" a woman's voice hissed. "I told you, tranqs only! Do you want the whole compound to know we're here!?"

"Dead CIA is good CIA, I say!" a man's voice growled back.

"This is my mission, got it? And I don't want the heat of dead agents on our backs. Now put the gun away!"

That voice, it sounded so much like Sarah's, but no, it couldn't be.

A male voice came from the open door at the top of the stairway, "Chuck! Get down!"

It was Chuck's other handler filling the door with his large frame, a gun in each hand. Chuck ducked low as a couple of shots rang out from the landing. The three masked figures dove for cover. The smallest of the three, obviously the woman whom he had heard, popped off a couple of well aimed shots with a tranq gun. Chuck looked up to see his second handler crumple on the landing at the top of the stairs.

"Blackhawk, go upstairs and scramble the surveillance. It will be a miracle if they don't already know we're here."

Chuck turned to see the largest of the three intruders making his way towards him. Chuck raised his hands in surrender, but surprisingly the man just sprinted right by him, over the bodies and up the stairs.

"Go pull around the van," the woman ordered the other man. He scrambled out the broken window and out into the night.

Chuck looked down at his handler's body at his feet. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked the woman, who had stuffed her weapon into the back of her black pants.

"This." The woman walked up to him, pulled off her mask and kissed him.

Chuck pushed her away roughly and looked into her face for the first time. "Sarah?"

She didn't answer but pulled him in again, and this time he returned the kiss hungrily.

They were quickly interrupted when the man called Blackhawk came thumping down the stairs. "All video and audio is jammed. It doesn't look like they're alerted to us yet, but it won't take them long."

Sarah nodded and turned to Chuck. "Get on your shoes. We're going. Now!"

Chuck recoiled from her. "No, Sarah," he protested. "I'm staying right here."

Sarah started to answer when they both heard the crunch of tires on gravel outside.

"Sarah, what's going on?"

"We're getting out of here." She threw him a shirt.

"We? Sarah, I made a deal… I'm not going."

"Do you have any Intersect stuff: notes, schematics, that sort of thing?" she asked as she looked around.

"No, nothing. They keep all that in the warehouse," Chuck stammered. "But Sarah…"

"I thought as much," Sarah said, grabbing the daily report laptop and his dictaphone off the table and shoving it in the bag.

The other man's voice came echoing down through the window. "All clear!" he reported.

Blackhawk pushed Chuck towards the window.

"Up and out, Chuck," Sarah ordered.

"Sarah, you're not listening! I told you. I'm not going with you," Chuck insisted.

"Chuck." Sarah put her hands on his shoulders "We can be together. We have to do this. It's the only way."

"It's not!" Chuck protested. "The CIA will let me go…I'll make another deal."

"I don't trust them." One signal from Sarah and Blackhawk grabbed Chuck, twisting his arm painfully up behind his back. "Chuck, you don't have a choice. I'm sorry."

Chuck was stunned. "Sarah?!" he begged. He couldn't believe that she would let him be treated this way. Would she take him against his will? Chuck struggled against the larger man's hold. "It's not too late, Sarah. Just throw down your gun and walk away. I won't tell them it was you. You can go home to our son!"

"We don't have time to argue!" Sarah yelled angrily.

"Can I just break his arms?" Blackhawk growled.

Sarah got in Chuck's face. "Chuck, either go out the window or I will tranq you. Do you understand?" Her voice was threatening but her eyes were pleading.

"Okay," Chuck relented. He was shoved towards the window. Taking one last look at his little apartment, he clamored through the frame, trying his best to avoid the broken glass. The man who had gotten the van was waiting there and pulled him out of the well. Chuck heard Blackhawk right behind him and had no chance for escape as he was physically passed from one man to the other.

Chuck was walked to an unmarked white van, identical to the CIA vans he saw around the compound every day. Sarah opened the back door and climbed in. Chuck was pushed towards the van. "Would you mind loosening up a bit…You're hurting me." he complained. But Blackhawk didn't seem to hear as he shoved Chuck unceremoniously into the cargo area where Sarah was waiting.

The other man took the driver's seat while Blackhawk climbed in the back and shut the doors. "Go!" he yelled. The van sped off into the darkness.

Sirens blared in the distance. "They've probably discovered our entry point. There's no going back that way!" the driver yelled.

"Don't panic!" Sarah ordered; her voice was firm and commanding. "You remember our contingency plan. We're in a CIA van. Just head for the South exit. Casually!"

Tensions in the van were at a peak. Chuck tried to catch Sarah's attention but she had pulled out a semi-automatic rifle and was checking the clip.

"Sarah, what are you doing? You're not going to use that thing, are you?"

"It's not my first choice, but we _will_ shoot our way out of this if we have to," she said anxiously. Blackhawk was also checking his weapon.

"We're almost to the automated guard station!" the driver called out.

"Time to see if this stolen codes works," Sarah said and she climbed forward to be behind the driver. "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42"

As Sarah called out the numbers, the driver punched them into the number pad. The number pad buzzed and started to flash.

"That's a no go!" the driver yelled. "We have sixty seconds to come up with the right code or all hell is going to break loose here!"

"Chuck! Flash on the code," Sarah commanded.

"What?"

"The security code to get us out of here. I know you can do this! Flash on the code."

"Sarah, I don't think…"

Chuck heard the click-click of a gun being cocked. "Do as the lady says," Blackhawk growled, his handgun pointed at Chuck's head.

"Put the weapon down, Blackhawk!" Sarah ordered, her semi-automatic raised toward his chest.

Blackhawk paused a moment, and then lowered his gun.

"Thirty seconds!" the driver yelled.

"Chuck!" Sarah called anxiously.

"Uh…okay…okay," he dug into his mind and felt his eyes flutter. "9, 37, 0, 17, 6"

The driver punched in the numbers as Chuck called them out. With the last number, the keypad buzzed and the fence rolled open. Chuck laughed with nervous relief as the van sped off into the quiet night.

Sarah moved back to the cargo area and sat down across from Chuck. "Where are we going? Why have you taken me?" he asked her.

"Taken you?" Blackhawk answered. "We haven't taken you. We've _rescued_ you."

"Sarah?" Chuck pleaded, looking over to his wife. But she sat stony faced and unresponsive. "Sarah, what are you doing here? Who are these men? Where are they taking us?"

She looked up at him, her face unreadable. "You have to trust me, Chuck."

"Trust you? Sarah, you just broke me out of a CIA facility. My handler was shot! You've kidnapped me!"

"That was your choice," she said. Chuck sensed a bit of disappointment in her tone. Sarah put her face down and hunched over against the wall of the van.

"Where's Charlie?" Chuck begged. "Can you at least tell me if Charlie is safe?"

Sarah's head snapped towards him and she looked at him with hurt eyes. "What do you think? Get some rest. It'll be a long drive." Then she turned away and refused to look at him for the rest of the trip.

Chuck tried to make himself comfortable on the worn carpet of the van. He had no idea how long 'long' might be.

One part of him was furious. Sarah had just thrown away everything he had been working for. If all went well, the Intersect would have been completed in the next few months, and then Chuck could get the Intersect out of his head. He was sure that the CIA would cut another deal with him, one that allowed him to be with his family again. But now that was all blown. They were on the run again. He hated running!

The other part of him just wanted to hold her: forgive everything and take her into his arms and never let go. He looked up to see Sarah still leaning against the side of the van, head bowed, a piece of hair falling out of her ponytail and across her face. The sight of her still took his breath away. But he couldn't reach out to her; not now, not while this barrier of mistrust separated them.

After what felt like several hours and so many twists and turns Chuck had no idea which way was up, they pulled in front of a non-descript office building with a deserted parking lot. The back doors to the van swung open. Chuck was a little shaky on his feet as they made their way to the boarded front doors.

Once through, Chuck was amazed at what he saw, an opulent waiting area, with leather couches and plush red carpeting. The light was so bright that Chuck had to squint to take it all in.

A beautiful woman with short dark hair approached them.

"Sarah," the woman called and she and his wife embraced. "I'm glad you've made it safely."

"Yes, the mission was a success." It was the first words she had spoken in hours.

The woman turned to Chuck. "And you must be Mr. Bartowski."

Chuck did not take her offered hand. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Nicole. And let me be the first say: 'Welcome to Fulcrum.'"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"What!" Charlie nearly choked on the last bite of his chocolate inferno sundae. "Mom! You joined Fulcrum?"

Sarah bit her lower lip. "Yes…yes, I did."

"I can't believe it! Mom! You were a terrorist?!"

"Shh!" Chuck scolded. "Charlie, keep your voice down."

"But Dad, this is Mom we're talking about here! And I thought the getting knocked-up thing was big!"

Chuck turned to Sarah. "You told him you got knocked-up?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Well…I didn't use those exact words."

Chuck suppressed a laugh that came out as a snort.

"Wow, terrorists," Charlie said, leaning back in his chair. "This story just gets more and more exciting by the minute."

* * *

_If you like this story or any of the others I've written I would love it if you would pop over to the Chuck boards on this site and nominate them in the __**Awesome Awards for Excellence in Chuck Fanfic.**__ Even if you don't want to nominate my stuff, that's okay, just get over there and nominate your favorite writers and stories. You can enter nominations until May 3rd, then voting begins! You can get to the Chuck boards by clicking on "Discussion Forums" on the upper right of the main Chuck stories page. Choose the first forum and the nominations will be the top post on the board. _

_Thanks go to __**Sharpasamarble**__ who did the original beta on this entire chapter. His advice has improved my writing by leaps and bounds. Extra thanks go to __**Timewalker05**__ who betaed my total rewrite of this half of the chapter. Both these gentlemen are writers on this site and I recommend their works to you without reservation.._


	10. Exrogue Rogues

**Revelations**

**By MySoapbox**

**Chapter 10: Ex-rogue Rogues**

* * *

Chuck could not eat another bite, so he put his spoon down and slid the last of his ice cream over to Charlie, who had polished off his dessert five minutes earlier.

Charlie picked up his own spoon eagerly. "So Dad, you must have been pretty angry at mom for going all _Body Snatchers_ on you."

"That sounds about right" Chuck laughed at the reference. "She did seem like one of the pod people there for awhile. And yes, I was furious - at first. Luckily, the long ride in the darkness, on the floor of a stolen CIA van, helped me simmer it off. By the time we got there I was mostly just exhausted. I was so physically and emotionally spent, by the time I found out about Fulcrum I probably would have become unhinged if it weren't for your mom…"

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When that dark haired woman said 'Welcome to Fulcrum,' it filled Chuck with dread. Fulcrum meant he was in the hands of his enemy; Fulcrum meant torture. He tensed his body for a fight. The old Chuck might have cried and fainted in the face of such danger, but this Chuck, the man that had run from the CIA for three years and lived to tell the tale, would not go down so easily.

Just as he moved his eyes about the room, calculating his odds, he felt a brush of fingers against the palm of his hand. Sarah had moved to his side, and was now taking his hand in hers. He looked over to her, and their eyes met for the first time in hours.

Sarah had always communicated more with her eyes than she had ever said out loud. And now that he was seeing her, that he was really paying attention, Chuck could see that even though Sarah hadn't said much of anything since the compound, she was communicating volumes with her eyes. Right now they were saying, 'Calm down. Trust me.' He glanced around the room once more while he made the decision. It was the same decision he had made on a beach six years earlier. He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand.

They were led into a conference room for 'debriefing.' Nicole sat at the table while Sarah and her 'team' stood, reporting on the events of the night. Sarah turned over the daily report laptop and told of the shooting of Chuck's handler, and their escape through the automated guard station. Nicole nodded her head in approval.

When the team was dismissed, Sarah did not move to leave and so, taking her lead, Chuck stayed as well. Nicole indicated for them to sit across from her. Sarah glanced at Chuck as they sat, her resolute eyes said, "We're in this together."

Once settled Nicole began, "Mr. Bartowski, tonight's mission seemed incredibly easy, why do you think that is?"

The question caught him off guard, but an answer immediately came to his mind. He had gone on a hundred similar missions. "The best reason I can think of Ma'am, is that Sarah was leading the team and she's the best," he said with confidence.

"While it's true that Mrs. Bartowski is a very fine operative, there was much more to it than that. Can you think of another reason?" She pressed her fingers together, waiting for his response.

Chuck wasn't quite sure what this woman was getting at. "Because of Fulcrum's excellent…preparation?"

"Because they _undervalued_ you, Mr. Bartowski," she said, leaning forward in her chair. "They locked up their precious Intersect with all the best security money could buy, but they kept you locked down in an old cellar, like you were some bastard child they were trying to hide away. They didn't appreciate how valuable you are." She stood and began pacing the room. "We, here at Fulcrum, will not make that same mistake.

"You, Mr. Bartowski, are the one worth protecting. You, and only you, understand the intricate workings of the Intersect. _They_ valued the golden egg, _we_ value the hen!"

Chuck could tell that Sarah was getting antsy. "Tell him the deal, Nicole," Sarah urged.

"Yes, you're right, Sarah, we should cut to the chase. Mr. Bartowski, Fulcrum is prepared to make you a generous offer. You see, several months ago, we had a very unfortunate incident, our Intersect was damaged, and our top scientists killed. We would like you to head a new team, and rebuild our Intersect."

"I don't know," Chuck said. He felt Sarah's foot nudge his underneath the table. "What's in it for me? I mean, I had it pretty good deal going over there with the CIA."

"Please, Mr. Bartowski, let's be honest. I'm sure that your agreement with us will be far superior to what you ever had with the CIA. And what's more, you can be reunited with your wife, and when the Intersect is complete, we will relocate your entire family to one of our protected communities overseas."

She placed the fingertips of both her hands on the table and leaned forward. "Once the Intersect is complete, you will be free, Mr. Bartowski, free to live a normal life with your family. And what more, you will a have the knowledge that you were part of bringing down the corruption that is the American Government and ushering in a new era!" She raised her hands in the air. "An era where all this country's citizens will be able to live in peace and prosperity!"

Chuck bobbed his head enthusiastically. "Yes, that all sounds wonderful! Just wonderful! I'm glad to be a part of that."

"I thought you would be, that's why I recruited your wife. When I heard your story, I knew you would be exactly the kind of people who could catch the vision that is Fulcrum."

"Yes, I do have the vision, indeed. Now about Sarah - I would need her to assist me on my team."

Nicole took her seat again. "I don't know, as you already said, Mrs. Bartowski is an excellent agent, she is very useful in the field."

"She is also an expert on the Human Intersect, and I need her input," he insisted.

Nicole nodded her head. "Very well, Mr. Bartowski."

"And there's one more thing." This time Sarah kicked him in the leg; it took all his concentration not to cry out. "There is the matter of my son."

"Oh, don't worry, honey," Sarah said, laying her hand on his arm. "I've already worked that out. He's at Ellie's; he'll join us when the new Intersect is complete."

Chuck shook his head. "That's not enough." He turned to the woman across the table. "I want your personal guarantee, Nicole, that he will be watched over and protected while he is at my sister's. I don't want any of those CIA scum to get their hands on him."

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Bartowski, but we will meet your demands."

"Then," Chuck stood from the table and reached out his hand to Nicole, "Let's do this."

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"You trusted me to Fulcrum?" Charlie asked in surprise. "They knew I was at Aunt Ellie's?"

"That was a tough decision for me," Sarah answered. "I didn't have a lot of options. I couldn't send you on the run with Ellie or Awesome because they had their own kids to look after. I didn't trust Morgan. I know you love him, Charlie, but you must have realized by now that he doesn't always exercise the best judgment." Charlie nodded. "So I decided that the best place for you was in plain sight. I told Ellie that if anyone asked, she was to say that I just never came home from work one day. At least at Ellie's I knew you would be loved and cared for until we could get back to you."

"But if someone wanted to get me, wasn't that an obvious place?" Charlie asked

"Exactly," Chuck chimed in. "Your mom knew that once she busted me from the CIA, they would come looking for you."

"You see," Sarah added. "The only thing I could really trust, is that Fulcrum and the CIA would be at odds with each other. One wouldn't make a move with the other one there. And then your father's agreement with Nicole only strengthened that position."

"Okay, well, it seemed to work out, because I'm still here, right? And I don't remember anything bad happening that summer. So what happened next?"

Chuck answered, "Your mom and I had a lot of things to talk about…"

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

It was well past three in the morning when Sarah took Chuck to some living quarters on a higher level of the building. Sarah had already been staying here, evidently, because her belongings were neatly stacked against one wall.

"I brought a few things for you, from home…I mean…from before," she said awkwardly. "It's not much. We'll get you some new clothes when we get to the Intersect site."

Chuck looked around uncomfortably. It was the first time they had been alone together in almost nine months and he didn't know what to expect. He looked into the bag Sarah had brought. "Ah… my Comic-Con t-shirt! I haven't seen this in years. I nearly kicked myself when I realized that I'd left that behind….It has so many good memories… So, thanks for this."

He sat down on the edge of the bed and unpacked. Sarah stood in middle of the room, her crossed arms hugging her body, while she watched him. He stood and stacked his piles of clothes on the floor next to Sarah's.

Once finished, he wasn't sure what to do next, so he sat on the bed heavily and put his head in his hands. He was so tired, but he doubted that he could sleep. It didn't look like Sarah was planning on sleep either because she did not move from where she stood.

"Sarah…I…" he began after a tense moment, but Sarah interrupted him and said in a sickeningly sweet tone, "Honey, it's been a long day. Why don't we take a shower?"

Chuck looked at her and saw tension on her face. Her tone of voice and facial expression were a startling contrast and he immediately grasped the situation. "Bugs?" he mouthed silently. She nodded.

"Okay, sweetheart, that sounds perfect," he said, louder than was necessary.

Once in the bathroom, Sarah shut the door behind them. She turned on the water and started the shower. Chuck began to speak but she silenced him with a finger over her lips. After a thorough inspection of the bathroom fixtures and cabinet, Chuck saw Sarah's shoulders relax. She turned to face him and after a second of looking at one another, Sarah fell into his arms.

It surprised him when she wrapped around him tightly, nearly squeezing the life out of him. It only took him a second's thought to reciprocate; it felt so good to hold her again. She felt different in his embrace, less soft and more solid, Chuck decided, than when he was last with her in Venezuela. The feel of her, the smell of her, it all felt new, yet familiar.

After a long moment, he felt her trembling. He pulled back to see tears silently streaking down her face. He kissed one cheek, and then the other, tasting the salty wetness on his lips, and when he took her back into his chest, she clung to him desperately. Overwhelmed with love for her, his own tears began to fall.

"I've missed you so much," he murmured into her ear.

"Me too," she whispered back, "more than you could ever know."

As they stood, rocking to the music of running water, the room filled with steam, coating them with dampness. Chuck didn't mind. The foggy air felt like their own safe cocoon from the world.

"Never leave me again," she said thickly. "You hear me? Never again!" She accented her words with firm taps on his back.

"I promise," he answered and pulled her in tighter, "…never again."

Sarah cried in earnest on his shoulder. He could feel her shaking in his arms and he could feel the wetness of her tears that soaked through his shirt. Not since that night long ago when he had learned that she was expecting Charlie had he seen Sarah so broken, and the thought that his actions were the source, gave him physical pain.

"Sarah, I…" he murmured not knowing what to say; he couldn't hide the sadness in his voice. She pulled back and looked in his eyes. Her eyes were vibrant blue, shimmering with tears, and before he knew what was happening, she was kissing him.

At first her lips felt foreign, warm, but different somehow than anything he'd felt before. Instinctively, he ran his hand up the back of her neck and into her hair and as her lips moved in tandem with his; the familiarity of it washed over him like a warm wave.

He poured all of his feelings into kissing her. All his feelings of hurt and comfort, loneliness and love, fear and trust. She returned his fervency with her own, and he felt one truth penetrate his heart: all was forgiven. Whatever this was, whatever trouble they were in, they were in it together.

"We have a lot to talk about," she said against his mouth, between kisses.

Chuck murmured his assent, but didn't take his hands from around her. The way he was feeling at that moment, he never wanted to let her go. Finally breathless, he pulled back and pressed his forehead against hers. "Sarah, why are we here?" he murmured.

Sarah moved her hand from around his back and ran it through the back of his damp hair to his cheek. Looking intensely into his eyes she whispered, "Until Fulcrum is destroyed we'll never be free. We're here to take them down."

Chuck took a moment to assimilate that information. And then nodding seriously he said," I thought it might be something like that." Then he leaned in to kiss her neck.

"Chuck, did you hear what I just said?" He didn't respond but kept working down her neck and across her collar bone. She put her hands on his chest to push him away. "Chuck, this is serious. We really do need to talk," she insisted.

"You're right, we do. And we will. But this is serious too. Sarah, I've missed you," he said, unable to hide the longing in his voice.

"I've missed you too," she answered, her tone matching his in intensity. He started to run his hands up the hem of her shirt and she did not resist him.

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"O-kay!" Sarah said, interrupting the story. "I think we can stop right there."

Chuck started to turn a little pink. "Sorry, I guess I was getting carried away with my story telling."

Charlie looked down at his empty plate uncomfortably. "Um…yeah…so…you were saying, you didn't work for Fulcrum?" Charlie asked.

"No, we did." Sarah answered, glad for the change of subject. "We were full fledged Fulcrum agents."

"But you just said that you wanted to take down Fulcrum, so doesn't that make you a double agent or something."

"Ah," Chuck said, "It would have, if your mom was also working for the CIA, but she wasn't; we were totally on our own."

"So, let me get this straight." Charlie leaned forward and put down his spoon. "You were ex-rogue CIA agents who were also Fulcrum agents who were also rogue?"

Chuck smiled, appreciative of the irony. "Yeah, a little screwed up, wasn't it."

"Yeah, I'd say. So Mom, while dad worked on the new computer what did you do?"

"We told you, I was his assistant," Sarah said.

"But that was just a rouse, right? I know you, Mom, no offence, but computers aren't your thing."

"I know I'm no expert like your father, but I'm not totally incompetent," Sarah protested. Both Charlie and Chuck looked at her skeptically. "Okay, so maybe you're right, computers aren't my thing. But there were some things I could do that were very useful…"

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

While Sarah sometime felt a little frustrated being cooped up in a lab day in and day out, she did enjoy watching Chuck work. She loved how he would fiddle with his pencil as he looked at his notes, and how he would tap his foot as he thought. She could tell when he was getting frustrated because he would sigh as he worked and she knew things were getting really bad when he started running his hand through his dark curls.

She never got used to his self guided flashes, when his eyes would roll up into his head and his whole body would shudder a little. But she was always amazed what flood of knowledge would flow from him after such a flash.

The Fulcrum Intersect was slightly different than the one Chuck had worked on for the CIA. Its original builders had made some additions that made it far superior to the CIA model. At first, Sarah was worried, because Chuck couldn't fall back on flashes to understand the circuitry. But in the end her concerns were unfounded. Chuck really was a genius when it came to computers. With a little study, he had it all well in hand.

In addition to his computer savvy, Sarah also admired how good Chuck was at being a spy. He had a team of four other computer technicians working for him, and he led them with confidence. He was well respected and well liked. None of them suspected that all the time he was working on the Intersect he was also working on 'their plan'; the one they whispered about in the bathroom when the water was running and the one that they worked out on crossword puzzles, passed back and forth between them on Sunday afternoons.

As she watched him now, running diagnostics with one of his programmers, she couldn't help but think how far he had come from that day she met him at the Buy More. Those first few years he was always so jumpy and nervous. His babbling and bumbling caused more than one mission to get dicey. But now all of that was gone, replaced by a man that, from the outside, appeared to be completely committed to rebuilding the Intersect and the cause of Fulcrum.

Sarah put down the notes she had been pretending to review, it was time to do her part of the work. She walked over to the Fulcrum agent, Blackhawk, who was head of security for the Intersect. He seemed to always be there, standing off to the side quietly observing, day after day. It was Sarah's job to keep him off balance.

They had establishing something of a friendship these past couple of months. They would stand off to the side, swapping stories of their glory days in the field. Sarah would tell him all about Jakarta, and he would tell her about his time in Milan. In lots of ways he reminded her of Casey, but she always kept in the back of her mind that he wasn't her old partner; he was a cold blooded Fulcrum killer.

She approached him and put her hand softly on his forearm. "I'm going to the lounge, can I get you anything? Coffee?"

The large bearded man smiled, "Sure, thanks."

"No problem." She smiled and winked at him, as was her routine. He looked away from her but she could see a little smirk peak out from under his beard. _Gotcha_, she thought.

She went over to Chuck and the programmer. "You guys want anything?"

Chuck didn't look up. "No thanks, we're almost done here."

"Suit yourself," she answered and turned to go.

"Hey, Sarah," he called after her. "Would you take this to Nicole? It's our progress report."

"Sure thing." Sarah took a file he offered her, smiled and walked pass Blackhawk and out of the room. As she passed through the doorway, she pocketed a thumb drive Chuck had hidden in the file. This was the final piece of information they needed to complete the virus Chuck was designing. Chuck would work late into the night tonight on a stolen laptop while Sarah listened to music to cover up sound of the keyboard. If all went well, their plans would soon be put into motion, and if they were lucky, they would be reunited with Charlie within a month.

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"So what was this virus, Dad?"

"It wasn't a virus technically, it was a worm. Once introduced into the Fulcrum system it would move through the network, causing infected computers to copy files and email them. It also installed a back door so that I could potentially access the infected computers in the future.

The plan was that once we had gathered enough information on Fulcrum's operations we would destroy the Intersect and trade the information to the CIA for our freedom."

"And how were you going to destroy the Intersect?" Charlie asked.

"Your father had already put that piece in place," Sarah said.

"Yes, a Trojan horse that would activate on a specific date. Once I figured how to do it, making the Trojan horse was easy."

Chuck thought about how truly simple it had been. When activated, the Trojan horse would go into the Intersect's programming and change a couple lines of the coding. So when the Intersect linked the information, or "flashed" it would not end at the last bit of data, but would look for more data, including information it had already analyzed. So in essence it would loop, over and over. Since linking data always got priority over all other functions, this would in essence, freeze and overload the computer.

"So did it work? Did all go according you're your plans?" Charlie asked excitedly. "And even if it did work, how were you guys planning on getting away? I mean, you were in some sort of compound right?"

Chuck raised his hands. "Hey…hey…don't get ahead of my story."

"Yes, Charlie, you wouldn't want to steal your father's thunder," Sarah said dryly.

"Exactly," Chuck agreed, ignoring Sarah's sarcasm. "I don't think our son here appreciates the gravity of the situation we were in." He turned back to Charlie. "The day finally came when the Fulcrum Intersect was complete. The Trojan horse I had planted would not initiate until a specific date a couple weeks in the future. Until then we would gather all the data we could from the worm I would introduce."

"So if all went as planned, in a few weeks your father and I would be gone…"

"Escaped from Fulcrum's evil clutches, you mean," Chuck interrupted with a dramatic voice.

"Yes, sweetie," Sarah said to placate him. "We planed to 'escape from their clutches' before anyone noticed anything was wrong. Unfortunately, Fulcrum had other plans…"

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Chuck stood at the ready in a white lab coat in the newly built Intersect room.

The room was full of Fulcrum leadership and invited guests. Nicole stood in front and clapped her hands to get their attention. "This is a banner day for Fulcrum. The day that we rightly take our place as the most powerful intelligence agency in the world." The audience clapped and she raised her arm to direct the audience's attention towards Chuck.

"And if everyone is ready," Chuck said as he stood in front of the white cube that was the Intersect. He reached down and placed his hand on the activation screen. A green progress bar appeared, and a computer voice announced, "Intersect activated."

All the lights in the room dimmed temporarily as the white cube began to spin and crackle with electric pulses, turning first green then yellow. The progress bar reached capacity, turned red and began blinking. Behind Chuck, a wall of plasma TV's flickered to life, showing one large image of a blue letter 'F' superimposed over a waving American flag, the symbol of Fulcrum.

"Fulcrum's new Intersect is now online," Chuck announced.

"Confirmed! All systems are functioning," one of Chuck's team reported from his monitoring station nearby.

The room broke out in applause. Everyone congratulated each other and patted each other on the back. Chuck took handshakes all around. Even Sarah, who was standing near the back, received praise, even though she mostly shuffled paperwork and brought people coffee.

An older man surrounded by an entourage stepped forward and shook Nicole's hand. "Good work you've done here, Nicole. Damn good work."

"Thank you, sir, but I can't take all the credit. Bartowski here is our chief engineer. The Intersect is his baby. Chuck, this is Jeff Nucker, head of Fulcrum."

Chuck stepped forward and shook the man's hand. "It's an honor, sir, a real honor."

"Excellent work, Bartowski. I'm very pleased. You should process our first human Intersects right away. Tonight!"

"Human Intersects, sir?"

"Didn't Nicole tell you? We have screened hundreds of our agents and have found a small handful that can receive the Intersect. We're going to build ourselves an army, my boy! A genuine spy army!" He pounded Chuck on the back and chuckled out loud at his declaration; all his entourage laughed along with him.

Chuck joined in the laughter as well, but his came out more nervous than joyous. "We'll get right on that, sir…yes, we will."

The leader of Fulcrum turned his attention back to Nicole and Chuck looked over the crowed to find Sarah. She was talking to another member of his team, but he could tell by her subtle glance that she had heard everything.

Nicole clapped her hands to get the group's attention. "Now if you will just follow my assistant here, he'll take you upstairs where we have planned a little reception." The crowd filed out of the Intersect room and Nicole turned to Chuck and his team. "Good work everyone. But no time to rest on our laurels, Mr Nucker wants us to start processing the human Intersects tonight. I'll bring up our first twenty candidates in a few minutes."

All of the team immediately went to work preparing the Intersect for human interface, when Chuck pulled Sarah aside.

"Sarah, Sarah, what do you think we should do?" he whispered to her anxiously.

"What can we do?"

"We can't have twenty Fulcrum Intersects walking around; Fulcrum would be unstoppable! All because of us!"

"You're right." Sarah bit her bottom lip. "I could set off some sort of explosion. Destroy the Intersect?"

"And take us with it?!"

"If we have to," Sarah said with determination.

Chuck glanced at the spinning Intersect cube nervously. "The Trojan horse. I'll trigger the Trojan horse early."

"Can you do that?"

"I think so."

Chuck started for the consol, when Sarah caught his arm. "Chuck, they _will_ kill us."

Chuck looked at her, and an understanding passed between them. He nodded grimly, walked over to the main consol and started to work. Meanwhile, Sarah ran interference with the other members of the team so that none of them would notice what Chuck was doing.

Five minutes later Nicole returned with the agents, all dressed in matching black suits. They all lined up facing the wall of plasma screens.

Chuck's team took their positions at their work stations, while Sarah handed out protective glasses.

"It would be best if you and your men stepped outside," Sarah said to Blackhawk, who stood at his post. "This could be dangerous and I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt." She leaned up to him and planed a quick kiss on his cheek. He smiled back, nodded, and signaled his team to exit the room.

"Are we ready, Mr. Bartowski?" Nicole asked, slipping her own protective glasses on.

"Ready," he answered, in a strong voice. "Ready as I'll ever be," he mumbled as he reached down and entered the sequence that would start the downloading process. The lights dimmed, and Sarah came to stand beside him. He reached out and took her hand in his.

The white Intersect cube glowed and rotated slowly while the plasma screens flickered to life. The images began flashing across the screens. A minute passed, and then another. Chuck began to wonder if his Trojan horse was going to work at all.

But then he noticed that the same ten images started to flash over and over and over.

_*Pig*alpha*tower of Pisa*masked banded*apple pie*an explosion*child's face*rifle*Nerd's candy*the swamp thing*Pig*….._

Some members of Chuck's team noticed as well because they started to type into their computers and check their readings.

"Sir," one of them called out to Chuck, "it looks like we have a problem."

An alarm buzzer began to sound, and one of the plasma screens started flashing the word "WARNING!"

"What's going on?!" Nicole shouted over the noise.

"Nothing, nothing!" Chuck answered. "Just a small glitch. I'll get it taken care of in a jiffy."

_*Pig*alpha*tower of Pisa*masked banded*apple pie*an explosion*child's face*M4 rifle*Nerd's candy*the swamp thing*Pig*….._

Chuck quickly reached down to his shoe and pulled out a small thumb drive. He jammed it into the console. Sarah looked at him with question in her eyes. The ten same images flashed faster and faster across the screens, and the agents that were supposed to be receiving the Intersect began to pass out on the floor.

"We have to shut it down!" one of the technicians yelled.

"I'm trying!" another answered. "It's unresponsive."

_*Pig*alpha*tower of Pisa*masked banded*apple pie*an explosion*child's face*M4 rifle*Nerd's candy*the swamp thing*Pig*….._

Nicole grabbed Chuck by the shoulder, "Turn it off! Now!"

Chuck typed furiously on the keyboard. "It won't give me access."

"Can't you just unplug the damn thing?" she screeched.

A voice sounded in the room in addition to the buzzing alarms: "Warning! System overload eminent…Warning! System overload imminent…."

_*Pig*alpha*tower of Pisa*masked banded*apple pie*an explosion*child's face*M4 rifle*Nerd's candy*the swamp thing*Pig*….._

The cube spun faster and faster and the screens were now just a blur except the one that flashed "WARNING!" over and over in large black and white letters. The agents all lay lifeless on the ground and the acrid smoke from burning electronics filled the air.

"Mr. Bartowki!" Nicole yelled. And then suddenly the whole room went dark and quiet. A second later dim emergency lights flickered to life.

Blackhawk and his men burst into the room, their guns drawn. "What the hell happened?!"

Nicole took off her protective glasses, "I don't know." She pointed to Chuck and Sarah. "But they do!"

Blackhawks men trained their weapons on them.

Nicole grabbed Chuck's hand and pried back his fingers. The thumb drive he had retrieved from his shoe sat in the palm of his hand.

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"So what was on the thumb drive, Dad? It wasn't the Trojan horse, because that was already working," Charlie questioned.

Sarah smiled proudly. "It was your father's secret back up plan."

Chuck looked down at the table modestly. She reached across and took his hand before turning back to Charlie. "I told you he had become a great spy."

* * *

__

**Revelations has been nominated for both Best Overall Story, and Best Charah Story in the Awesome Awards for Excellence in Chuck Fanfic.**_ I'm so thrilled that it is even in the running and I wanted to thank all of you that took time to nominate it._

_Voting is ongoing until this Sunday, May 10__th__. _

_I'm not going to ask for you vote, because every story in the competition is a great story. So go and vote for your favorites! _

_You can see all the nominations and vote by visiting the Chuck boards at this site. Click on "Discussion Forums" in the top right corner of the Chuck Fiction homepage. Choose the first forum and the nominations will be the top posts on the board._

_A million thanks go to my beta reader, S__**harpasamarble**__. He is nominated as best author and in several other categories, and is very deserving of your consideration. All mistakes are my own._

_One last question for my readers: This chapter has turned into another long one (over 6 ,000 words) and I considered splitting it into two shorter chapters like I did with the last chapter. Would you leave in your reviews (or PM me if you would like) whether you prefer the longer chapters, or if you prefer shorter chapters (that may be able to be updated faster). This story is about wrapped up but it would help me in my future endeavors. Thanks so much. -MSB_


	11. Saved

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Chapter 11: Saved**

* * *

After the dinner check was settled, the trio drove back to Charlie's apartment so that he could change for his night shift at the fire station. While he dressed, Sarah and Chuck found themselves waiting, once again, in the small student apartment.

A few moments later, Charlie came out of the bedroom wearing his blue uniform. For the second time that day the sight of him took Sarah's breath away. They had talked so much today about the little Charlie; that little wide eyed boy that held her hand on the airplane all the way to L.A.. But the person that stood before her now was Charlie the young man. The young man that was California State Junior Kung Fu Champion. The young man who at sixteen came home from rock climbing with his Uncle Devon and announced that he was going to be a doctor. The young man that worked late into the night to ensure that he would get into Stanford. The young man that gave up his first summer at college to get his EMT certification. The young man that was thinking about becoming a spy.

Considering him now, she knew that she and Chuck had made the right decision in coming here today; in finally revealing to Charlie the truth about their past – about _his_ past. He needed to know his family's history. He deserved to know, before he took this next big step in his life, so that in looking back, he could make the best decision for his future.

Sarah approached Charlie and straightened his collar. The eyes that looked back at her were a mirror image of her own; but when she rubbed a smudge off his chin, the smirk on his lips was his father's.

"Mom," Charlie complained, "I'm not three."

"I know," she said, feeling nostalgic.

Charlie glanced at a clock on the wall. "I'm sorry. I only have twenty more minutes. Is that enough time to finish the story? I'm dying to find out what you did to that computer, Dad."

"I think that should be enough time, don't you think?" Sarah looked over to Chuck.

"I'm actually glad that we don't have much time to tell this last part. It's going to be hard telling it as it is," Chuck confessed.

"It's okay, honey, it was a long time ago," Sarah comforted.

"You're right," he agreed. "But it's not a place I like to go, you know. The memories sometimes feel so fresh."

Sarah nodded. "I know. For a moment there, I thought it was the end…"

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Nicole put her hand on top of Blackhawk's weapon. "No. Don't kill them. The Intersect may still be salvageable. Take Mr. Bartowski to a holding cell. See if you can get him to _enlighten_ us on what went wrong."

Sarah moved forward to protect Chuck, shifting her weight in preparation to strike. If they wanted to take Chuck, it would be over her dead body. The last thing she remembered was a sharp pain on the back of her skull, and then all went black.

When she regained consciousness, she could feel someone stroking her hair. She opened her eyes to see Chuck above her. One of his eyes was swollen and red, and there was a gash in his bottom lip. Blood was smeared across the side of his mouth where he must have attempted to wipe it away.

"Oh," Sarah moaned. "Are you okay?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He continued to stroke the hair from her face. "You've been out for awhile."

"How long?"

"Thirty minutes, maybe more."

Sarah started to sit up and immediately regretted it as a sharp pain shot through the back of her skull and down her neck. "Whoa," she put her hand on the back of her head and felt the large lump there. "What did that guy hit me with? A two-by-four?"

"They got you pretty good."

Sarah reached up and gently touched Chuck's bruised face. "Looks like they got you pretty good, too."

"Me? Nah. That Blackhawk is really a softy at heart."

"You know, it's okay; even the best talk during torture."

"Who said I talked?"

Sarah beamed at him and leaned forward and delicately kissed his battered lip.

"Ah…ow!" Chuck complained.

"Sorry, I just can't resist you when you play the hero."

"Well, I'll plan on getting beat up a little more often if it's such a turn on."

Sarah smiled and then looked around the small room they were in.

"So, what's our status?" she asked.

"Blackhawk was called away from our little 'talk' about ten minutes ago. Some sort of problem out in Fulcrumland. We're locked in some kind of holding room. The door is dead-bolted from the other side."

Sarah stood and tried the handle. She stepped back and threw all her weight behind a running kick at the door. It didn't budge.

"Together?" Chuck asked. Sarah, feeling a little dizzy, agreed.

They stood side by side and counting to three and kicked simultaneously at the door. The whole wall shuddered but the door held firm.

"It's no use," Sarah panted.

"Maybe not," Chuck agreed, "but there's always hope."

Sarah gave him a weak smile and slid her back down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees. She lowered her head. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?" Chuck asked, "For what?"

"For getting us into this mess. For thinking we could beat Fulcrum."

"You mean we still can't? Don't you know that this is all part of my ingenious plan?"

"Cute." Sarah smiled at his attempt at levity. Chuck came and sat beside her on the floor. Sarah looked up into his face. "You know...the day Nicole approached me about joining, I just knew."

"Knew?"

"That we would never have peace. As long as Fulcrum was a power and you had the Intersect, they would never leave us alone…not Fulcrum, not the CIA…I thought if I could save you…"

"Hey…hey…" he lifted her chin with his hand. "You did save me: ever since the day you walked into that Buy More and gave me that lame line about your phone not being fixed because you hadn't gotten a call from me, you've been saving me."

"You thought that was a lame line?" she asked, her face serious at first and then the corners of her mouth inched up.

"And you saved me from execution three years later…let's not forget that."

"Yes."

"And then you saved me again," Chuck's eyes softened as they searched hers, "the day you gave me our son."

"Mmm," Sarah murmured.

"God, I miss him. Do you know it's almost been a year since I've seen him?"

"I miss him too; every minute of every day I've been away."

"Sarah, even if it all ends now, even if they burst through that door and shoot us right here, I want you to know that my only regret is that I won't live to see Charlie grown. I'm just glad that I got to spend that last six years with you. You saved me, Sarah."

Sarah loved how he could make her heart flutter even now, even here; in the most dire of circumstances; he could still make it all feel alright. Chuck closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her, when suddenly they heard a loud crashing sound, like thunder.

"What was that?" Chuck asked.

"Sounded like some sort of explosion. A big one," Sarah said.

Chuck smiled. "It looks like the cavalry has finally arrived."

"Cavalry? No one knows we're here!"

"They do if they got my message in a bottle," Chuck said grinning.

There were shots fired, and scuffling in the hallway outside the door. More gunfire followed and a man cried out. Then there was an eerie silence.

Chuck got up and pounded on the door. "Here! We're in here!"

A voice came from the other side, "Stand clear!"

A few seconds later a small explosion showered them with debris. Sarah looked up to see a small section of the door had been blown away where the door latch had been.

A soldier in full combat gear pushed his way through the twisted metal door. "Are you the Bartowskis?"

Chuck managed to cough a "yes" through the settling dust.

"Colonel! We've found them!" the soldier shouted down the hallway. He reached out his hand and helped Sarah stand. "Lieutenant Wheeler, First Marine Raider Battalion, at your service."

"Thank you Lieutenant," Sarah said, brushing herself off.

Chuck was doing likewise. "Are we ever glad to see you!"

A large hulk of a man, flanked by a special ops team in full gear jogged down the hallway towards them. Chuck recognized him immediately. After all, he had saved Chuck's life more times than he could count. "Where the hell have you two been hiding?!" Casey shouted at Sarah and Chuck when he saw them. "Were you trying _not_ to get rescued? We've only got fifteen minutes!" Casey put his hand up to his helmet. "Sergeant, get some gear up here! We've found them," he said into his radio.

"What's the situation?" Sarah said, switching into agent mode.

"We've secured half the building. Unfortunately, the way we came in has collapsed; we have to shoot our way out. Apaches are due in fifteen to blow this place to kingdom come. We have to get the hell out of here before that happens!"

"What?" Chuck stammered. "Casey, this is suicide. The odds of us making it out alive…"

He slammed a fresh clip into his M16 automatic. "Never tell me the odds."

"Chuck's right, Casey. You never should have ordered these men to risk their lives just for us."

"We volunteered, ma'am," the young Lieutenant Wheeler responded.

"That's right. When I told my men about you two, they volunteered," Casey replied.

Another team member came sprinting down the hallway towards them and slid a bag to Casey. He ripped opened the bag and tossed vests and helmets to Chuck and Sarah with a, "put these on." Once secured, Casey handed an M16 to Sarah who took it deftly.

"You got a side arm for Chuck?" she asked him.

"What? For the geek? I don't want my men loosing any appendages," Casey protested.

"I'm not asking for major firepower, but he can handle a nine millimeter."

"Fine." Casey reached around to his back and handed Chuck his standard issue Beretta. "But he still owes me a toe."

"Your trust in me is heartwarming, Casey," Chuck replied, giving the weapon a once over.

"Alright men, let's move out!" Casey issued the command and the small group of Marines headed down the hallway.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"So how did your old partner find you?" Charlie asked.

"It was your father's worm," Sarah answered, "the one that he uploaded to the network right before the Intersect crashed."

Chuck smiled in satisfaction. "My original plan was to have the worm very quietly and slowly copy files from Fulcrum computers and store them in one hidden place on the system that only I could access. When everything fell apart, I didn't have time for that, so I uploaded a different worm. It was my first design. I took to carrying it around with me in case of an emergency. I originally decided against using it because it was so invasive; even a first year Computer Science major would have noticed its presence immediately. The CIA email addresses I programmed in could be easily identified."

"So you had Fulcrum's computers email all their data to the CIA?" Charlie repeated.

"Yeah, basically. It was a gamble. I didn't even know if it would work, but I figured at that point, why not try it?"

"Luckily, Casey had asked the CIA tech teams to be watching out for us." Sarah said.

"When he learned that we had been kidnapped by Fulcrum he put two and two together and figured we might try to get word out. When fifty gig of Fulcrum data suddenly clogged up the CIA's email system, he got our message."

"But you two weren't _kidnapped_ by Fulcrum. Well…Dad, I guess you technically were… but you weren't, Mom." Charlie said

"If Casey knew that I had joined Fulcrum of my own free will, he never said. It was always Casey's assertion that we were both captured by Fulcrum and forced to work on their Intersect. We never corrected that assumption."

Chuck got a far away look in his eyes. "It renewed my faith in humanity, in a way. Casey could have written us off. He and his team could have let the NSA destroy us, and rightly so - we were Fulcrum after all. I can't tell you what it meant to me…" he looked over to Sarah, "to us…that so many good men would risk their lives to rescue us…"

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Chuck, Sarah, Casey and his handful of men had all converged on small maintenance room that led to the building's loading dock.

As the point man moved stealthily onto the loading dock, shots rang out, and the soldier crumpled to the ground.

The team all scattered for secure locations.

"Fulcrum must have left some lackeys behind to keep us from pursuing them," Casey grumbled. "Are you sure this is the only way out?" he asked Sarah.

"Yes, if the back has collapsed and front doors are blocked. This is it," Sarah answered.

Casey hissed to his team, "This is it boys! Flashbangs on three and then we go."

He put three fingers in the air. Three, two, one. A couple of his men tossed the metal canisters onto the loading dock, while the rest of the team hunkered down and closed their eyes.

Bang! The grenades exploded with blinding light and deafening sound. The small cloud of smoke partially hid the team as they sprinted out of the maintenance room to various points of cover on the dock.

Chuck and Sarah were the last out of the room, and for Chuck, everything started to go in slow motion. At the doorway they had to step over the body of the fallen soldier. Chuck glanced down and saw the empty eyes of Lieutenant Wheeler staring back at him. Refocusing on finding a place for cover, Chuck headed for some nearby crates. He heard gun fire. Just a few more strides and they would make it to safety.

Another shot rang out and Chuck sensed, more than saw, Sarah crumple to the ground behind him. He turned and saw Sarah was down.

He ran back and dragged her the last five feet to safety behind the crates.

She was still. Chuck tore off her helmet. "Sarah, Sarah, are you okay?"

Sarah gasped for breath and moaned. "Yeah…the vest…just knocked the breath out of me." She went to sit up and cried out in pain. "I think I've broken a rib."

Chuck heard the explosive pops of shots hitting on the opposite sides of their hiding place. A nearby soldier returned the fire.

In the lull that followed, Chuck heard the low whap,whap,whap of helicopters in the distance.

"I've got visual on the Apaches!" one man yelled.

"Fulcrum's in retreat!" another called.

"Roger, that!" Casey called back. "Times up! Everybody out of here. Now!"

Guns blazing, the soldiers ran out of their cover locations, off the dock, and into the open parking lot. Casey sprinted back towards the door to retrieve the body of the fallen Lieutenant. Fulcrum agents were scattering from their hiding places in every direction.

Chuck turned back to Sarah, "Can you stand? We've got to go."

"Yeah, I think so," Sarah sat up slowly and gritted her teeth. Chuck saw sweat break out across her forehead and one tear escape down her cheek. He put his shoulder under her arm and took her weight as she leaned heavily on him.

As Chuck struggled to get Sarah off the loading dock, he saw Casey hand off the body he carried to another Marine and head back towards them.

"Sarah's hurt!" Chuck called out to him.

"I'm fine…I…" Sarah's eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed; Chuck caught her just in time to lower her to the pavement.

It was then that Chuck noticed the dark red stain at her waist. "Oh, my God! Sarah!" Chuck was frantic. "Casey! She's been shot!"

"If we don't get out of here now, we'll all be charbroiled!" Shoving his M16 at Chuck, he scooped Sarah up and threw her over his shoulders in the fireman's carry.

Chuck and Casey ran across the parking lot into a large corn field that lined that side of the compound. Just as they reached the tall rows, the Apaches launched their missiles. In the distance, the building exploded in a tower of flame and smoke.

For a second Chuck thought about the people he knew that might still be in that building. Chuck shook his head. He couldn't be bothered with that. He had to help Sarah.

Casey removed Sarah's vest. The bullet must have come in right below the bottom edge of the Kevlar. Chuck pulled his off his own vest and shirt and pressed it against the wound to stop the bleeding. They rolled her over and found an exit wound at the small of her back.

Sarah suddenly jerked and coughed. "So thirsty. What happened?"

"Sarah, honey, you've been shot. Help is on its way." Chuck ripped the shirt in half and pressed the torn t-shirt up against the back wound, while Casey got the front.

Sarah opened her eyes, but squinted against the light. "It hurts," she moaned. She started to tremble.

"She's going into shock," Casey said. "Roll her onto her back."

Casey rolled her back and loosened her clothing while Chuck applied the cloth to the entry wound.

Chuck could hear gunfire all around him as the Marines hunted the last of the Fulcrum agents in the corn.

"Hang in there Sarah," Chuck said. "Only a few more minutes."

There was nothing he could do other to sit there and wait while the Apaches performed their aerial dance of destruction on the Fulcrum installation and the Marines fought all around him.

Chuck noticed that the parking lot was mostly empty. "I guess most of Fulcrum got away," Chuck lamented.

"Don't be so sure. When my team got here, Fulcrum was scrambling out of here like cockroaches with the lights turned on. Only, there's no place to go when you build your compound in middle of a thousand acres of Virginia corn fields. Idiots. Why do you think they agreed to give me twenty minutes to get you out? The Apaches had some bug squashing to do first." Casey grunted in satisfaction.

One of his men called out for him. Casey put his hand on Chuck's shoulder. "I've got other wounded to check on," Casey said, his voice thick with regret. He excused himself and disappeared deeper into the corn.

Chuck felt a little better at the notion that perhaps Mr. Nucker had been captured or killed. Their mission was a success. Fulcrum had been dealt a crippling blow.

"Did you hear that Sarah?" He patted Sarah's cheek; her skin had taken on a deathly grey pallor. "We've won. Come on…wake up Sarah…you have to see…"

Casey returned and pushed another t-shirt at Chuck. Chuck hadn't noticed that the one he was holding over Sarah's wound was saturated. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Chopper will be here in five to extract us. Don't worry; she'll make it until then." Chuck nodded numbly.

Casey stood again, to leave, but then he turned back. "She's a tough one - Walker. Tough as they come."

The corn danced and swirled at the helicopter landed a few minutes later. Casey came to get Sarah, but Chuck pushed him away. He needed to do this. She was _his_ wife. The woman_ he_ loved. He picked her up gently in his arms and carried her to the extraction point.

The medic on the Blackhawk went right to work on Sarah. All Chuck could do was sit there and hold her hand. He felt utterly helpless. Casey too, just sat and stared out the window, his face unreadable. The roar of the helicopter was deafening, so they couldn't have talked even if they wanted to. The mood was restrained. The operation had been a success, but they had lost one of their own.

Once Sarah was bandaged and a saline drip was initiated, the medic moved on to the other wounded soldier. Chuck looked down at Sarah's pale face and thought how he would trade places with her if he could. He would even trade places with Lieutenant Wheeler if he had the power, and then the Lieutenant could go home to his family instead of lying dead in the bottom of a helicopter. Why was the price of freedom always so high?

A gentle squeeze on his hand broke Chuck from his reverie. Chuck looked up to see Sarah's eyes open. Chuck's whole countenance changed, from anguish to joy. Sarah managed a week smile. They held hand the rest of the flight.

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"Your mom was treated at Bethesda. It was touch and go for awhile. But they had top notch doctors there and they saved you mom's life.

When she was well enough, I had her transferred out to Aunt Ellie's hospital in L.A. where Ellie could watch over her and you could visit her every day."

"Hey, I vaguely remember that," Charlie said. His eyes flicked up toward the ceiling, as if looking for the memories there. "I remember visiting you in the hospital, Mom. I remember the smell, and the tubes in your arms. Aunt Ellie told me you got sick on your trip."

"That's right. She brought you nearly every day to see me."

"Yeah, that's the first time I thought I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to fix people like Aunt Ellie was fixing you." Charlie took a deep breath. "Wow, Mom, I had no idea how serious it was."

"You couldn't have known; you were just a little boy."

"We tried to shield you from it as much as we could," Chuck said.

"But now you should know the truth about what we lost." Sarah looked over to Chuck for reassurance. "The doctors said I was lucky. Just a half inch to the right and I would have been paralyzed. At first it was hard to _feel_ lucky, but when I saw you, and knew that eventually I would recover and be able to play with you again, that we could fly kites at the beach, or play at the park, then I started to make peace with what happened.

"Make peace with what? With being shot?"

"No, I'd been shot before. I had to make peace with the consequences of my injury. The bullet didn't hit any bones, but it left bits of shrapnel all along its path. They had to…" Sarah paused and bit her lip.

Chuck moved his hand to hers. "Your mom had to have a hysterectomy, son. The damage was just too extensive and they needed to stop all the bleeding."

Sarah composed herself enough to speak. "I can't begin to tell you how devastating that was. I woke up and learned that I would never have any more children - that I never could give your father the little girl he always wanted." She took a deep breath. "I don't expect you to understand, at least not now, but having you with me every day helped me so much. It helped me focus on what I had, and not the dreams that I had lost."

Silence hung in the air. Sarah sniffled softly.

Chuck glanced at his watch. "Wow, you're going to be late. Can we drop you off at work? There are still a couple more things we want to say."

"Sure, Dad, that would be great."

The short car ride to the fire house was quiet. They arrived and Charlie went in to check in with his supervisor. The evening was warm, and Chuck and Sarah stood arm in arm in the small lawn area in front of the building. In the middle of the lawn was a flagpole and a small memorial to fallen firefighters.

Charlie returned and joined them. "The captain says I can have a few more minutes, as long as we don't get any calls."

"Good. Make sure to thank him for us," Sarah said.

"You need to tell me what happened with the CIA, Dad. I assume they didn't just let you go."

"Between the data that was sent to the CIA by the worm, and the total destruction of the Fulcrum Intersect, Fulcrum had all but been defeated. Over the next few months, teams took out what was left of them.

"I went back to work on the CIA Intersect, this time with a new deal. In exchange for my finishing the Intersect and the Fulcrum upgrades, I would get my life back in full. As soon as the Intersect was complete, I was able to remove the secrets from my head. After that it was just a matter of getting back to L.A. to be with you and your mother again."

"And you trusted them? You trusted the CIA to keep their word?"

Chuck laughed. "Oh no. That's why I built several different, shall we say, security features, into the new Intersect." Chuck smiled proudly. "Of course having Colonel Casey's entire Special Ops team on our side didn't hurt either. I told the government that as long as they left me and my family alone, the Intersect would not be disturbed. And it wasn't."

"Wasn't?"

"It's outdated now." Sarah said. "It was replaced several years ago by some new system your dad and I don't know anything about."

"So it's really over. No more CIA? No more dangerous secrets?"

"It's really over," Chuck smiled reassuringly.

"At least until we learned about your recruitment," Sarah added.

Chuck put his hand on Charlie's shoulder, "Son, I hope you know that your mom and I love you very much. Now that you know what happened, you can see why we are concerned about you becoming an agent."

"We're not going to tell you what to do," Sarah added. "But we want you to consider the cost. Think of the price that your father and I had to pay to be together – for us to be a family. There are lots of ways to serve your country, ways that don't have such a high personal cost."

An alarm sounded from inside the fire station, and a garbled voice announced the address of an emergency call.

"I've got to go. Sorry Mom and Dad."

"No, it's okay; go and do your job," Chuck waved him off.

Charlie grabbed them both into a quick group hug. "I love you guys," he said fiercely.

"We love you, too," Sarah said. "Be safe."

Charlie turned and trotted towards the ambulance.

"And Charlie," Chuck called after him. "Think about what we've said."

He turned back to them. "I will! I promise!"

A large yellow fire truck with full sirens blazing pulled out of the parking lot.

"Come on, Bartowski!" one of the other EMT's yelled at Charlie, as he jumped on the back of the ambulance. The doors shut and they sped off into the night.

Sarah and Chuck stood and watched until the red flashing lights disappeared into the distance.

Chuck sighed. "I can see why they want him. He's smart and confident and with his Kung Fu and medical background, we've created the ultimate super spy."

Sarah placed her hand on his shoulder. "But he doesn't have the heart for it. He's good through and through, just like his father." She trailed her hand down his back and wrapped her arm around his waist. "And I'm grateful for that," she said in his ear.

Chuck turned around, pulled her against his chest. "He's going to make the right decision, you know."

"I know," she said sadly.

He wasn't sure whether or not she believed it. He pulled back and put his hand around the back of her neck. "Hey," he stroked her jaw with his thumb, "he's a good kid. No matter what he chooses it will be all right. He won't face the same things that we faced. We've given him everything that we never had."

Sarah seemed to cheer at the thought. "You're right. And we trust him."

"We do," Chuck confirmed as he leaned down and kissed her cheek.

She looked at her husband. So often he said that she had saved him. But Sarah knew that it was the other way around. He was the first person to love her unconditionally. And it had been all his years of patient love that freed her from her past and help her live the life of her dreams – with him.

They started walking towards their car, hand in hand.

"You know," Chuck said, "Our story was pretty exciting."

"Yeah, I guess it was," she acknowledged.

"Maybe we should try to sell the movie rights; or it could be a TV series or something. They could call it 'Sarah and Chuck'." He swept his free hand in front of him, as if reading the names off a marquee.

Sarah laughed. "You think so? You really think that people would be interested in watching a story about our lives an hour every week?"

"Yeah, I really do. They could get that one actress; you know that drop dead gorgeous one that we saw in _The Canyons_ last week. She would be a great Agent Walker."

Sarah laughed again. "And who would they get to play you?"

"I was thinking - Daniel Craig."

"Really? I didn't know you were British."

"As much as you are Australian."

"I know, they could have Daniel Craig play Cole Barker, you remember him?"

"How could I forget," Chuck said rolling his eyes. "Hey, how about Scott Bakula? I loved Quantum Leap."

"He'd be a little old, don't you think? You'd have to be…what?...27 or something, when the show started."

"Oh yeah…Well, whoever they get to play me will surely be dashing."

"No doubt."

"And funny, can't forget funny."

"No, can't forget that."

They had arrived at their car and Chuck walked Sarah to the passenger to open the door for her. He paused with his hand on the latch and looked into her eyes. "Do you think people would want to watch a couple that takes three years and a series of tragic events before they finally get together?"

Sarah smiled. "They would if they got their 'Happily Ever After' in the end."

Chuck leaned down and kissed her softly. "Let's go home, Mrs. Bartowski."

THE END

* * *

_There is a short epilogue in the next chapter and some author's notes._

_Many thanks to those who voted in the Awesome Awards for Excellence in Chuck Fanfiction Writing. I was both amazed and pleased when Revelations received second place in the Best Overall Story Category._

_Thanks to **Sharpasamarble** who, as always, did a great job betaing this chapter. **Timewalker05** betaed my rewrite and he helped me get my helicopters and military affiliations straight. Thanks TW!_


	12. Epilogue

**Revelations**

**By MySoapBox**

**Epilogue**

* * *

Dear Mom and Dad,

I know this may surprise you but I've had a change of plans. I've been approached about a job. It was an offer I couldn't refuse, so, I'm leaving in a week. I'll be flying out San Francisco for a two year mission in Uganda. They say I won't be able to contact you often so I'm coming home this weekend to see you before I go.

I know you worked hard to get me into that fellowship Dad, but I feel as if destiny is calling me another way. With my training and background, I have a lot of skills to offer. And I feel a real need to make a difference in this world - to make it a better place. With you two as parents, how could I not?

You know that girl, Kaitlin, that I've been dating off and on for past couple of years? I've asked her to come with me and she agreed! I finally took the plunge and told her how I really felt. One of the many thing I learned from "the talk" we had my sophomore year, is that life is too short to leave anyone you love behind.

See ya soon,

Charles John Bartowski M.D.

The newest recruit of Doctors Without Borders.

* * *

Author's Notes:

It is with bittersweet feelings that I end _Revelations_. It's fitting that I do so on my birthday. There is no gift that I could buy myself that would be more meaningful to me. So, I hope you'll indulge me as I wax nostalgic for a moment.

This story has been such a large part of my life the last three months. Thank you for taking time out of _your _life to take this journey with me. I was amazed week after week that hundreds and hundreds of you joined me to find out what happened next to Sarah, Chuck and Charlie. Thank you for reading. Extra thanks go to those of you that took time to review, and the few of you that reviewed chapter after chapter. Yes, I noticed you!

This has been my first full-length fic and the writing has been a journey of self discovery. _Revelations_ began its life as an 8,600 word one shot called _Like Mother, Like Son._ The story was, basically, Sarah telling Charlie (his name was Andrew then) about her life as a spy. Yes, it really was just Sarah and Charlie sitting there and Sarah talking – for 19 pages! It was only the 2nd fic I had ever written. I sent the story off to **Sharpasamarble**, who was kind enough to volunteer his beta services to a new inexperienced writer. He gave me an honest review. The story didn't work – Sarah just doesn't talk that much. He challenged me to take my favorite scenes and turn them into flashbacks. Revelations was born. The plot of Revelations mirrors exactly the plot of _Like Mother, Like Son_, up until chapter eight – when I decided that Sarah deserved a much more heroic ending than the one I originally gave her.

I'm sure Sharp didn't anticipate when he issued that challenge that it would mean three months of fielding my emails and doing beta. For those who don't know him, Sharp is one of the Grandfather's of Chuck fanfiction and he's been generous enough to take me under his wing and teach me some of the things he knows. Sometimes it was hard opening his beta copies and seeing them covered in red ink, but it always challenged me to take my writing to the next level. He is mentor and friend to me. Thank you Sharp for all your hours of work on my behalf. When _Revelations_ has disappeared deep into the archives of Chuck fanfiction, the skills I have learned will continue to be a blessing to me.

Additional thanks go to **Timewalker05** who was a sounding board for me many times, and who stepped in and beta'ed a few times as well. I've made many more friends along the way and that, to me, has been the best blessing of writing in this fandom.

This will be my last chapter story for awhile. Summer is here, school is almost out and I have four children and a Mr. MSB, that would like to have more time to spend with their mom/wife. I am, however, writing a round robin story with the group _Authors Intersect._ So for more Chuck adventures, check out _Chuck vs the Terrible, Horrible, NG,Really Bad Day. _

God bless.

-MSB


End file.
